Burn for You
by KakashiSauce
Summary: The war is finally over, and the village of Konoha is trying to pick up the pieces. Iruka is trying his best to work with the children, but adjusting after such a dark battle isn't easy for everyone. Especially Iruka, who is becoming more and more mesmerized with the village's new Hokage, Kakashi. KakaIru. Yaoi. Warning: If you are behind on the manga this may contain spoilers
1. Chapter 1

WARNINGS: I do not own Naruto. Also, Male/Male, with a little "Non-con" that doesn't go that far. So if non-con freaks you out, don't worry, just skip past it.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Iruka sighed as he stared at his class. Everyone was either terrorized or glaring at him like he was wasting their time. The war had only come to an end a mere week ago, but Tsunande insisted the village 'return to normal' as quickly as possible. That was difficult, considering the last week had been purely funerals for their fallen comrades. Neji's had been particularly painful for Iruka, but he had known every single leaf shinobi who had lost their lives trying to unite the world and end Madara's reign of terror. It made perfect sense that his students, mere children, were still going to be shaking off the effects of fearing for their lives for so long. No one really recovered from being forced into a cocoon and almost doomed to a life of fake dreams while their chakra was slowly drained from their bodies.

But they'd have to. They owed it to those who had died. The children would learn that soon enough.

"Please, turn to page 16 in your defence text books so we can catch up from where we left off."

"Why?" Came the instant protest from the back of the class. "Aren't we at peace now?"

"It's too soon to say that for sure, Keeko. And knowledge never hurt anyone, did it? Now, open your text book."

"But Jubei isn't in class!"

"Jubei is a Nara." Iruka cut in, his voice hard. "They lost the head of their clan, so he is in mourning. Don't be disrespectful." Iruka's tone was warning now, where it had just been soft and tender. He understood how the kids felt, but he needed to be firm. Some semblance of normality is what Iruka would try to give them.

The class seemed to calm down at the shift in tone from their Sensei. The lesson finally began.

Oooooooooooooooooooooo

With a loud sigh Iruka stepped out of the academy building. He felt the urge to turn and stare up at the sign, as if he felt he wouldn't be seeing it for much longer. Who knew what would happen in the future? He supposed children always needed to be educated, but in what?

"Sensei!"

A broad smile cracked Iruka's face as he spun with enthusiasm. Naruto darted towards him, his good arm waving and his toothy grin in place. In seconds he had a pile of teenager in his arms whom he willingly clutched to his chest.

"There you are, Naruto...you're late for our lunch date." The chuunin chided with pure affection. Naruto grinned up at him from his spot against his chest.

"Sorry, sorry! Was just talking to Tsunande!"

Iruka frowned slightly, unable to help gently touching Naruto's arm just above where the scarring was. "She's able to help you, then?"

"YEAH!" The blond cheered, jumping back and waving his stump around with far too much enthusiasm. "She's making us another arm with Hashirama-sama's cells. She says it'll be ready in a few weeks; how great is that!?"

Iruka laughed, deeply and truly. "That's incredible. I'm very relieved."

Relieved was an understatement. Ever since Naruto returned, Iruka could hardly keep away from him. He was alive, although not exactly whole, and a hero. The sensei felt his entire chest burn with the love he felt for his surrogate little brother every time he saw his face or heard his name. He couldn't be happier for him, and prouder of what he'd accomplished.

"Come on, Naruto. I've never seen you delay ramen for so long."

The blond groaned and rubbed his belly and the two laughed and continued on their way.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was starting to get dark when Iruka and Naruto parted ways; it seemed to be just as hard for the blond to stay away from Iruka as it was for the chuunin. With a smile still lingering on his lips, Iruka headed home. He had some very poorly done homework to grade. The teacher was really hoping a few D's and F's would snap his students out of their funks and get them into learning again, though he could hardly blame them for not jumping into it.

Instincts told him he was about to smack into something he shouldn't and he snapped out of his revere just in time. Kakashi was walking towards him, hands in his pockets, and a tinge of amusement lining his eyes. Clearly, he'd noticed Iruka was about to collide him in a very un-ninja like manner. Iruka blushed, as he always found himself doing around Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sama! It's great to see you."

The copy-nin laughed lightly and scratched his nose in embarrassment. "Iruka-sensei...please. It's a little early for formalities."

Everyone in the village was talking about Tsunande stepping down and Kakashi being her replacement; it had practically already been done.

"Isn't the ceremony going to be soon?" Iruka teased. Kakashi still had much of his same personality before the war, and an aversion to being Hokage came with the package.

"Maa...perhaps."

Iruka's smile just wouldn't diminish no matter how hard he tried to be demure before the great Kakashi. He couldn't help it; he was proud of him. Not only had he done amazingly in the war, but he'd apparently formulated the plan that rallied Team 7 and ended Kayuga. And now, he was going to be Hokage. Iruka was practically star struck.

"I am very glad for you, Kakashi-_san_. And so is Naruto; I was just with him. Whenever he says your name he practically blushes, he's so proud of his Sensei. It seems you two grew even closer during the war."

Something seemed to twinkle in Kakashi's eye before he spoke. "It seems you share his sentiments, Sensei, if your blush is any indication."

Iruka was struck speechless. His mouth fell open just slightly and his blush spread in a wave across his face. Mortified, he tried to adjust himself.

"I...I'm sorry, It's just-"

Kakashi laughed, open and friendly. Iruka had never heard such a thing from the elusive copy-nin. He found himself speechless again, for entirely different reasons.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you, Sensei. I appreciate your thoughts. You've always been one of the most genuine people in this village."

Dumbfounded, Iruka could only stare in shock. There was something immensely different about Kakashi, and it was an entirely positive development. Joy seemed to line his eyes instead of boredom. His laughter was light and airy, as if he'd never fought a battle in his life. Something about it made Iruka's heart fill with warmth.

"Kakashi-san..." Iruka started, unsure of how to word his question. He didn't want to be presumptuous before the next Hokage. "You seem different. In a good way, of course. It's as if...you're lighter, almost."

Once again, something seemed to flash in Kakashi's eyes, but Iruka couldn't interpret what it was. It made his face feel even hotter.

"How perceptive of you, Sensei." Kakashi commented, his voice velvety. "If you'll please excuse me, I have an appointment with Tsunande. Wouldn't want to keep her waiting."

Iruka almost stammered an apology he was so flustered. With a sly smile, Kakashi lightly bowed to him in parting before he stuffed his hands back into his pockets and continued on his way. Iruka stared after him. The chuunin had no idea what to think. Normally, wars damaged people, but Kakashi seemed almost...no. Iruka knew nothing about him, he could insinuate nothing. But still...it was true, he seemed almost...

Healed.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

The chuunin returned to his apartment with a little spring in his step. Without missing a beat, he flew through his kitchen and prepared dinner. Something light, since he'd eaten a lot of ramen with Naruto at lunch. He brewed some tea, lit a candle and sat down on his couch with his meal. He found it difficult to chew without choking as he remembered his conversation with the young war hero. Naruto really knew how to make him laugh. When dinner was eaten and the dishes were done, he flopped down at his work table with his tea and cracked his knuckles. Time to sort through the trash.

Iruka found his thoughts drifting to Kakashi as he tried to grade his students homework. The infamous copy-nin had lost none of his charm, that was certain. Iruka could never seem to hold it together around him. Kakashi had so many things Iruka felt he lacked; charm, charisma, confidence. However, there had always been something...dark about Kakashi. Brooding, almost. Despite being personable to whoever approached him, Kakashi was always emotionally closed off. Naruto had complained about it quite a bit during the first couple of years with Kakashi as his sensei. He also said Kakashi teased him mercilessly and could be almost cruel if he chose to. Iruka definitely knew what that felt like; Kakashi had practically flayed him alive when he'd protested his decision to enter his students into the chuunin exams. Crossing the copy-ninja was something to be done only if you were prepared for a vicious fight, and Iruka had never attempted it again.

Now, Kakashi was a war hero and the next in line to be Hokage. He seemed even more unattainable, like a star glittering just out of reach. Yet...despite his increased status, his attitude was far more magnetic. Perhaps Iruka was just putting too much weight on one simple conversation, but he couldn't shake it. Kakashi had changed, and for the better.

Iruka slapped himself on the face and forced his concentration back to his papers. He was being utterly ridiculous in thinking about Kakashi so much. He needed to put his feet back on the ground. He was still just a school teacher; Kakashi was practically a celebrity.

Somehow, that made his heart hurt. He took a long sip of tea and forced himself to get over it.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next week went by in a blur of jaded students and terrible assignments. Iruka had predicted it would be tough getting the kids back into the mindset for school, but he had no idea it would be THIS hard. Every day he struggled to keep their attention, to get them motivated. By the end of the weak the poor chuunin felt frazzled and burnt out. As he watched his class dissipate, he considered sending out a message to all their parents and asking for an after-school meeting. He wanted to speak to them and see if they noticed this attitude at home as well. Perhaps they would have suggestions.

No sooner had he decided on his approach than an eagle landed on the window ciel next to him. With a blink, Iruka held out his arm. The lithe bird landed on his outstretched limb gracefully and extended his leg. It flew off with a whoop as Iruka uncurled the scroll.

_Iruka-sensei,_

_The Hokage requests your presence as soon as it is convenient. _

_-Shizune_

Iruka had no idea what the Hokage could possibly want with him, but he figured now was the best time to find out. He pocketed the little note, grabbed his bag and fled the building.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Iruka-sensei, thank you for being so punctual." Tsunande greeted as she gestured ahead of her. "Please take a seat."

The chuunin did as he was told, glancing around the office as he did so. A few scattered boxes and some piles of books were the only indication that Tsunande would be moving out of the office soon. Iruka supposed she didn't have many possessions.

"I called you here because I am curious to see how our children are getting on after the war." Tsunande asked easily as she rested her chin in her hands. "How have classes been?"

"Ah...actually, I'm glad you asked. It hasn't been good, I'm afraid." Iruka answered grimly. "I was just thinking of calling a parent-teacher meeting. I've tried everything I could think of, but the children just don't want to respond. They're unmotivated, some of them are grieving, and most just don't seem to want to learn."

Tsunande sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I see. Have the other teachers complained about this as well?"

"Yes, Tsunande-sama. Hibichi-chan had a student run out of her classroom screaming on Wednesday. Ebisu had to stop his entire class from jumping out of the windows on Thursday. It's becoming increasingly hard to contain them without force."

The Hokage sighed loudly and rubbed her forehead. She definitely seemed tired, perhaps older, despite her physical appearance remaining unchanged. The war had taken a lot out of her.

"Perhaps it was a mistake sending them back so soon..." She murmured to herself.

"If I may...I don't think it was a mistake, Tsunande-sama. I think some normalcy is what the children need. Maybe they just need more time, and for us to be more patient. I was thinking of cutting my lesson plans in half. Give them more time to play outside, and lighter homework. Just to start things off."

A light smile appeared on her face. "I like it. Please, write me a simple report on how things are progressing by the end of next week."

Iruka was about to respond but nearly jumped out of his seat when a light chuckle sounded behind him. He turned, and with barely concealed surprise, noted Kakashi leaning against the wall opposite his chair. When the hell had he come in?

"What's your problem, kid?" Tsunande called affectionately to her next-in- line.

"No problem." The jounin shrugged. "I think it's a good sign that the kids are giving us a hard time; it's what they do."

Kakashi pushed off the wall and approached the Hokage's desk. He lay a gentle hand on Iruka's shoulder in greeting before continuing to stand beside Tsunande. "I like your idea, Iruka. I think they just need a bit of time to adjust. Being with their friends all day will help them."

Iruka smiled at Kakashi in thanks for his praise. Internally, he felt his heart rate quicken. The way Kakashi affected him was seriously starting to worry the chuunin.

"I was just about to send Iruka on his way. Did you have anything you wanted to ask him, Kakashi?"

"No." The jounin answered gently. "But I am also curious to see how things progress. If Iruka-sensei doesn't mind, I'd like to stop by the school next week."

"Oh...the Hokage visiting the children. What an excellent propagandist you are." Tsunande teased. Kakashi scrunched his nose at her in response while Iruka visibly gaped.

"The ceremony is that soon?"

"It will be in two days. Oh...have I not made the announcement?" At the silence in the room, Tsunande sighed loudly. "Just great. Shizune is never going to let me hear the end of it..."

"I'll see Iruka out." Kakashi chuckled. Tsunande sent him a filthy look, which bounced off Kakashi's back like a spitball. Iruka stood, bowed to Tsunande, and followed Kakashi's lead to the door. Unexpectedly, Kakashi left the room with him, closing the door gently behind them.

"I'm curious." Kakashi began once they were alone. "What, in your opinion, do you think is preventing our children from behaving? It is merely the aftermath of the war, or something else?"

Iruka smiled gently at the jounin's concern. "It's a handful of reasons, from what I can see. There are some students in my class who have lost a loved one. Some of them simply don't understand what is going to happen to our village, and so, I think their fear is making them lash out. There even seem to be some students who are bitter at the ninja system, and so, they don't want to learn anything related to ninjutsu. It's a difficult balance to achieve, trying to cater to all of them."

Kakashi nodded to himself as he considered Iruka's words. "I expected this. War is never easy on anyone, even those not directly involved."

"Kakashi..." Iruka started, rubbing his scar in uncertainty. "I think...there's something else. My theory is that the students are shaken from being in the infinite tsukuyomi. Everyone living their wildest dreams, in the flesh, as if it was real. It felt like true happiness...and then it was gone. And now there's reality. I really am worried the children are having a hard time grasping that."

When Iruka looked back up at Kakashi, he could see his entire demeanour had changed. He looked serious, his eyes hard. He was starting deep into Iruka as if trying to grasp something from his subconsciousness.

"What do you propose we do about it?"

"Ah..." Iruka faltered, never having been able to withstand Kakashi's intensity for long. "I really don't know. I'm sorry. I think they just need time."

Kakashi continued to hold Iruka with his piercing gaze before he continued. "How are _you_ dealing with it?"

All colour drained from Iruka's face. He tried to hide it, but Kakashi was incredibly sharp. The shift in his stance told Iruka he'd caught his discomfort and was storing it away in the large database he kept in his mind.

"I...simply accepted. That's all." The chuunin answered.

Kakashi hesitated before he continued. "How did it make you feel? When you awoke?"

The conversation was going into territory Iruka had tried desperately to forget over the past couple of weeks, and he felt exposed and weak in front of such a great ninja. The school teacher had no idea how to answer in a way that wouldn't open flood gates he'd nailed shut such a short time ago.

"I..." Iruka sucked in a deep breath. "...was disappointed, of course. But that feeling vanished when I looked around me. It was clear what had happened, and then I remembered The Tree and my fear of it before the dream had started. Everyone was quick to act, to try and make sure no one had been hurt. We didn't have much time to dwell on what we'd experienced."

Kakashi didn't make a sound or give Iruka any sign he'd acknowledged his answer, but continued all the same. "Do you think everyone else recovered?"

Glancing down, Iruka shook his head. "I can't say for certain. No one I know seems to be troubled."

"Mmm." Now Kakashi nodded, rubbing his chin in thought. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei. You've provided me with a lot of very valuable information."

Iruka smiled as pleasantly as he could and bowed low to Kakashi. "Of course. I am always here to help, Kakashi-sama."

When Iruka rose, he saw Kakashi levelling him with a look that plainly said 'your cheekiness has been noted.' That brought forth a genuine smile from Iruka, and to his dismay, a stereotypical blush. He turned to leave, but before he'd taken a few steps, heard Kakashi call to him.

"I encourage you to talk to your class about their dreams, Sensei. If it's troubling them, I want to address it as quickly as possible."

Iruka bowed again, assured him he would, and left.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When Iruka returned home, he dropped his bag in a random corner and slumped down onto his bed.

His dream.

Every night when he went to bed, he pictured it. Every morning when he woke up, he'd wish for it. Iruka felt horrible about bold-face lying to someone who was basically the Hokage, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't talk to Kakashi, to anyone, about it. He was ashamed that he couldn't let it go, but it had felt so good. He'd never been SO happy in his life as he had in that dream and he was _terrified_ he'd never be that happy again. That he'd go through the rest of his life living in the shadow of what he imagined his life could be like.

It had started off with his parents, of course. They had been older, as if they were alive now. Calling to him and laughing. He was visiting them with his spouse, with the love of his life. He had a child bouncing on his hip in his arms. He was _so_ happy. His son laughed up at him and tried to tug at his forehead protector. Iruka hadn't thought anything about the fact that his son looked nothing like him at all. He was blond, with bright blue eyes and tanned skin. A beautiful boy if there ever was one. Iruka had turned around and closed his eyes, receiving an expected kiss from his love. Iruka hadn't thought twice about not catching a glimpse of his lovers face. Of not knowing...if it was male or female.

His recent stirrings for Kakashi brought that back to his mind. His son hadn't looked a thing like him and he hadn't seen what his lover looked like. Why was that?

With a sigh, Iruka turned onto his side and closed his eyes. It didn't matter. It was just a dream, an illusion. He was supposed to forget about it.

But he couldn't.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next day Iruka showed up to class with much of the same response he'd had for the last while. The students looked like they couldn't care less about being there and were just waiting for Iruka to hurry up and waste their time.

Slowly, the chuunin unpacked his things. He had decided exactly how he was going to tackle this week, but now that it was happening, he was a little nervous. With a deep inhale he looked back up to his class and smiled warmly.

"Hello, everyone."

Various droned out forms of "hello, Iruka-sensei" greeted him. He plowed ahead.

"I'm going to do things a little differently from now on. I feel like we all need a little bit more time to adjust after the war, so there will be a lot less homework and more in school, group activities for us to do. How does that sound?"

Heads perked up all over the classroom. The students murmured, looked at each other, looked back at Iruka. Some shrugged, some stared, some nodded their consent.

"Alright. We'll give that a try and see how we all feel, hmm? But, to start out, I want to talk to you about something specific. Something I feel we should have talked about as a class from the start. I want to apologize to you for ignoring it for so long."

Now everyone was really intrigued. The class was stone silent, but he hadn't had this much attention on him in weeks.

"I want to talk about the infinite tsukuyomi." Iruka breathed.

Everyone's eyes widened. Some students scooted back in their chair. Iruka looked around, judging the responses, before he continued.

"I want to make sure you, all of you, are alright. I know we haven't been together long, but I care about each and every one of my students. I care about all of you. So, if anyone experienced something that is upsetting them, I want to know about it so we can all heal together. Ok?"

Iruka noticed a few of the kids started to look scared. One little girl already looked like she was going to cry. He figured this was a pretty good sign that there were some Iruka's in his classroom who needed to talk as much as he did.

"I'll go first so anyone else who wants to talk can feel more comfortable." Iruka shone his brightest smile to his class before he continued. "My parents died in the fight against the Kyuubi way back before you all were born. I was very young, so I've spent most of my life without them. In my dream my parents were alive. It was as if they'd never died. It's hard for me to wake up and not see them, when they felt so real to in the tsukuyomi."

His entire class was mesmerized. Iruka took another deep breath before continuing. "That's it for me. I want you guys to share your experiences too, but first I'm going to start with a volunteer. Does anyone else have a similar story to mine that they want to share?"

As was expected, there was silence. Iruka scanned the crowd. He could pick out at least six kids who had something they wanted to say. Iruka was a very patient man when he needed to be, so he stood silently and waited.

Finally, a tiny little arm went up. Iruka smiled and nodded to the little girl. Slowly, she pulled her hand down and wrung out her hands for a few seconds before she could answer.

"My sister...was killed on a mission last year. She was in my dream. We..."

A little hiccup interrupted her story. Iruka felt his heart wrench. When it looked as if she was too emotional to continue, Iruka swung around his desk and sauntered over to her. As soon as his arms were open she was in them, sobbing. Her deskmate looked just as scarred as the crying girl in his arms, staring at her friend with wide eyes. Iruka smiled and gestured. She ran over immediately and wedged herself into his chest between her friend.

Iruka gazed around the class. Some students were sniffling, and some were comforting others.

"It's alright. Let's all talk about it together." Iruka called to them softly. "It's easier if you aren't alone, isn't it?"

The chuunin felt someone tugging at his vest and he turned as best he could. A little boy stood behind him, his lip quivering. "My dad was so nice to me in my dream. But it was just a dream. He's...not so nice now..."

Iruka dislodged his arm and held it out to his small student. Instantly, he had three crying forms in his arms. He hugged them and held them as tightly as he could. "Shh, shh. It's alright, everyone. This will fade."

Someone jumped up out of their seat. "I loved my dream! I loved it so much, it's not fair! It's just not fair!"

Cries echoed out around the room.

"Shut up, Kugo, you big baby! What do you have to whine about?"

"HEY!" Iruka called. "No name calling, I absolutely will not have it."

"Well Kugo has a great life, what about me? I dreamed mom was still alive, but she's not! She's NOT!"

Iruka held his arms out to him as well, and soon there were four. It was if a dam broke. All of a sudden, the entire class rushed him. Yelling, crying, sobbing. All his children circled him, touching him, crying at him, hugging his back, hugging each other. Iruka was overwhelmed. He had no idea it was this bad.

"Everyone, it's alright. It's alright to cry, it's alright to be mad. It's okay. Yes, Miira, come here. Kugo, of course you can come too. It's alright. Shh, oh Jubei...it's alright. Everyone come closer if you want."

The teacher down the hall had heard the commotion and rushed over. She froze in the doorway at the sight before her. Iruka craned his neck back and caught her eye. She seemed to give him a look that asked 'Oh my God, are you OK?'. Iruka nodded solemnly before he turned back to his children.

"How about we have a nice recess after this? We'll play a game."

"I want my dream back." Someone sobbed. Wails and cries rose up out of the mass of children. Iruka was having a hard time keeping his own emotions in check, but he did it. He needed to. Slowly, he patted heads, rubbed backs, ran his hands through thick locks. His vest and clothes were soaked through with tears.

He needed to talk to Kakashi.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Iruka left the school hours later looking like a corpse. He had never felt so emotionally drained. Iruka felt deeply for all of his children, especially since so many of them had lost loved ones. But, he felt for himself as well. It's like his entire class had echoed his own feelings into his chest for the last five hours.

_No time to rest. I need to see Kakashi as soon as possible_. He thought to himself with a sigh. All he wanted to do was curl up on his bed and be unconscious, but he needed to make sure his children got the help they needed.

Iruka was brought up to Tsunande's office and told to wait. He hoped Kakashi was even here, but felt certain that he would be so close to his graduation into the Hokage's office.

Sure enough, the door opened and Kakashi gazed back at him. Instantly, he jounin looked concerned. A hand went out to Iruka's shoulder, as if the copy-nin felt he could fall over at any moment.

"What happened, Iruka?"

"The kids..." He murmured. "I asked them about the infinite tsukuyomi. They were all very upset. Many of them saw relatives who had died. They were terrorized to wake up to find them dead again."

Kakashi instantly ushered Iruka into the office and closed the doors behind him. Tsunande had heard everything and was drawing a chair out for him.

"Sit, Iruka-sensei." She commanded gently.

He plopped into the chair with little grace. Kakashi handed him a glass of water which he took gratefully, but also wondered how terrible he looked for them to be treating him this way.

"What happened to you...?" Kakashi asked, glancing down at Iruka's chest. The chuunin blinked and touched where Kakashi's eyes had wandered to. It was wet.

"It's my children. They were crying all afternoon."

Tsunande and Kakashi exchanged very serious glances.

"Should we cancel classes, Iruka?" Tsunande asked softly.

The school teacher pursed his lips as he thought. At first, he'd been opposed to the idea. But now he felt his students needed to be with their families. They needed to talk to people who would understand them. They needed more comfort.

"Yes...yes, we should. But we should let their families know that they're upset, so they can talk. They need to talk to someone else." Iruka rasped. He laughed lightly and cleared his throat before taking a sip of water. "I apologize. I've been talking a lot today." He explained with another light laugh.

Tsunande and Kakashi looked at him as if half his brain was hanging out of his head.

Damn, he couldn't look_ that _bad, could he?

Tsunande got up and went to her desk. She pulled out a scroll and began writing frantically. Kakashi, meanwhile, pulled up another chair. He sat down slowly and scooted forward until he practically had Iruka pinned between their chairs.

Leaning forward, Kakashi gazed straight into Iruka's eyes. The intensity of his stare left no room for argument.

"Iruka. Are you alright?"

The chuunin smiled as brightly as he could. "Of course. Do I look that bad?"

"Yes." Kakashi answered without hesitation.

Iruka's face fell.

Well.

"Oh...ah...that's understandable. I've never dealt with so many sad children. It was heart breaking."

Kakashi continued to stare, clearly not buying Iruka's explanation. "I'm asking if _you _are alright. You experienced the infinite tsukuyomi too, didn't you?"

With all his might Iruka tried not to react. It was difficult, because Kakashi obviously thought he was not alright. He wouldn't be so adamant about asking if Iruka looked like a handful of fresh flowers instead of a pile of ash. With the same nervous laugh, Iruka tried to brush the whole thing off.

"I'm fine, Kakashi-san. I'll admit I'm a bit shaken, but I will deal with it, as everyone must."

Something in Kakashi's eyes told the chuunin he didn't buy it. Nervously Iruka waited. He kept trying to smile, but it was forced, and Kakashi was an exceptionally intelligent man. Iruka must have been more see-through than a glass window.

"You know..." Kakashi began, some of his mirth returning. "Lying to me is technically an offence. Seeing as I'm basically the Hokage."

Iruka glanced down quickly. He felt his throat constrict and was terrified he would cry in front of Kakashi. He could NOT have that; he would not look weak in front of one of the most famous ninja in their village. In the world, even.

"Kakashi...please." He whispered. "I don't want to talk about it."

That took the copy-nin aback. He sat straight, staring in obvious surprise. Iruka continued to stare at the ground.

Tsunande returned a moment later. "I'm going to put out a public announcement. I'll be back in ten minutes."

Kakashi nodded and Iruka looked up to acknowledge her with the best smile he could manage. He heard the door open and close, and then he and Kakashi were alone.

A thick silence descended upon them for just a moment. Kakashi leaned in again, his features soft and warm.

"Iruka. You spent the entire day trying to help others. Why not let someone help you?"

As humiliating as this was, Kakashi was being extremely stubborn. It was clear he had no plans in letting Iruka go until he cooperated. So, cooperate he would.

"I...well. My parents were alive in my dream. It felt so real." Iruka laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "When I was dreaming I just had no idea. Then all of a sudden, I was back. Everyone was disoriented and...it took me a while to realize what had happened. For days after I would come home expecting to see them, but within minutes, would remember it hadn't been real."

Iruka exhaled loudly and shrugged. "What can you do? I'm a ninja. I'll persevere. Eventually, the dream will be just another memory."

Kakashi was doing nothing to hide his emotions. He gazed at Iruka with compassion, and to the shinobi's surprise, understanding. "Ah. I had some ghosts come back to life during the war, too." The jounin added softly. When Iruka looked surprised, he continued. "I was very fortunate; I got to say goodbye to them. I feel as if that chapter of my life has finally closed. For you...it's been opened again. I'm sorry for that, Iruka. I know what it feels like."

The school teacher sat in silence, warmed by Kakashi's tenderness. He didn't know why he had expected anything less; Kakashi was not a bad person by any means. Perhaps he had just gotten too caught up in the jounin's fame, and had focused too much on how he would appear to him. He'd forgotten all about Kakashi's humanity.

"Thank you, Kakashi." Iruka whispered, his smile genuine for the first time during their meeting. "I'm very glad for you. Really."

Kakashi laughed lightly and stood. "Yes, well. Let's not get off track. I want to make sure you're alright."

Iruka stood as well. He took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Yes, I...I'll be fine. It gets easier everyday. Besides, you really do have other things to worry about."

Kakashi shot him a look. "It's rude to brush off the Hokage."

Iruka's eyes widened and a blush broke out all over his cheeks. "...I...I didn't mean..."

The laughter that filled the room eradicated any fluster the school teacher felt in an instant. He stared hard at Kakashi as the jounin teased him with an amused expression.

"May I be excused now?" Iruka asked with fake haughtiness.

Kakashi sighed loudly and opened the door for him. "I _suppose_ so."

"Thank you for your time, Kakashi-san. And...your concern." Iruka added with a bit of extra tinge to his cheeks. He bowed to his future Hokage, then turned to leave before he embarrassed himself. Iruka yelped as his arm was grabbed and he was yanked back and spun around. The teachers heart leaped into his throat as he came face to face with Kakashi, their chests nearly colliding. He felt his blush return with a vengeance.

"Iruka. I want you to know that if you ever need help, you can come to me. First as a friend, and second as the Hokage. Alright?"

It took a moment for his heartbeat to slow enough for him to answer. The chuunin swallowed lightly and smiled. "Y-yes...yes, thank you. I will. If I need you."

Kakashi's smile took Iruka's breath away. "Good."

His arm was released and Kakashi stepped back. The poor chuunin ran a hand through his hair as he recovered from the shock of the unexpected contact. With one last smile he bowed to Kakashi and walked out the door as quickly as he could without being obvious. As soon as he heard the door close he stopped walking, exhaled loudly and rested against the wall.

That...had made him _far_ too excited. He could actually feel the warmth in his heart and the heat in his groin. Terrified, Iruka tried to calm himself with deep breathing. This was not happening. It was just hero worship, that was all. He had been star struck by Kakashi ever since he'd come back from the war. Proud, too. That's what he was.

With one last deep breath Iruka pushed away from the wall and headed home with as much confidence as he could muster.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Words could not describe Iruka's relief when he finally stepped into his apartment. For the second night in a row Iruka's bag fell from his side and landed at the doorway. Toeing off his shoes, he walked into the kitchen and practically wrenched his cupboard open. He could punch a baby for a cup of tea right now.

The chuunin put the kettle on and fell onto his couch with a loud sigh. What a day. He was concerned for his children and concerned for himself. It was taking him longer to get over his dream than he thought, and he couldn't understand why. Part of him worried it was more due to the fact that he was happily married in his dream, but stubbornly single in real life. He only had one awkward teenage relationship under his belt and he was nearly 27. The child in his dream...he'd been perfect. And he'd been Iruka's, at least...in some fashion. The chuunin had a strong feeling his son had been adopted. That wasn't too surprising since Iruka had a soft spot for orphans, but if he'd married a woman, he couldn't imagine their first child not being one of theirs.

He nearly dropped his mug in realization.

When he'd turned around for a kiss, he'd had to lean up, not bend down. His lover in the dream had been taller than him.

Iruka poured his tea and tried to recall the rest of his dream.

They'd all sat down for dinner. His father had cracked jokes the entire time, as Iruka remembered he was fond to do. His mother lovingly placed plate after plate of food before them. He'd turned to his child and helped him cut up his meat. The loving, adorable look he got in response had made Iruka laugh out loud. He'd felt a warm, strong hand on his thigh. Without even turning around, Iruka had known it was his lover.

WHY hadn't he just turned around? How could Iruka have gone through that whole experience without seeing who he was married to?

"It doesn't matter, idiot..." he muttered to himself as he blew on his tea. Really, why was he bothering to analyze something that was fake?

Probably because it was a part of his subconscious and he knew it.

Because he was starting to think he was attracted to Kakashi.

Laughing, Iruka lay on his couch and flipped open his favourite book. Well, who wasn't attracted to Kakashi? It probably didn't mean anything. Remembering his parents brought a dull ache to his heart. He sipped his tea, but it seemed flavourless. _Damn_ that Madara. Damn him. Iruka had gotten over their deaths, he'd moved on. And now...it was fresh. As Kakashi said, it was opened again. As if they'd just died yesterday.

Kakashi.

Iruka suddenly had the overpowering urge to go to him. To be comforted by him. To feel his strong presence, to hear his soothing voice, to be close to his warmth. Wow, he really was pathetic. He'd only seen the jounin twice in person since the war ended and now he already missed him. But, Kakashi had said it himself...a burden had been lifted from him, and Iruka could practically feel it. Kakashi was different and it was like cat nip to Iruka. It wasn't as if Iruka hadn't liked Kakashi before the war, of course he had.

But...

"Oh, stop it." He chided himself. This was totally ridiculous. He was a grown ass man and-

A loud knock sounded from his door.

Blinking in surprise, Iruka gently placed his mug on the coffee table and padded over to the door.

"Who is it?" he asked calmly.

A little sniffle greeted him.

Anxiety stewed in Iruka's gut as he threw the door open. Standing in his doorway in adorable pijama's was one of his students. The chuunin dropped to his knees before him, grasping the little ninja's hands.

"Riku! What's wrong?"

All he got in response was a sniffle.

Iruka pulled him in for a hug. He felt little Riku rest his face in the crook of his neck and his heart nearly exploded in his chest.

"It's alright." Iruka soothed as he patted his back. "Just tell me what happened."

After a few more sniffles Riku softly answered. "I don't like home."

"No?" Iruka chuckled, pulling back just enough to see the young boys face. "Why not?"

Riku pouted. He looked down. "Dad's mean. He wasn't mean in my dream."

Iruka pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and gently dabbed the tears from his students cheeks. "Riku. Are you afraid of your father?"

Very slowly, Riku nodded. Iruka frowned hard. "Did you run here because he was scaring you tonight?"

Another little nod.

The chuunin stood and took his young students hand. "Come inside, Riku. I'll get you some tea."

Riku did as he was told. Iruka pat a spot on his couch and the young boy dutifully hopped onto it. Before Iruka went for the tea, he quickly grabbed a quill and scroll. This situation was going to turn very ugly very fast if he didn't get someone official involved. Riku's parents were probably going apeshit looking for him, and if his father really was an asshole, he wouldn't be so pleased finding him at Iruka's.

He quickly formed a few handseals and a small pigeon appeared. He placed the scroll in its mouth and closed his eyes. He pictured Kakashi as clearly as he could. The jutsu seemed to understand instantly. It spread its wings and soared out of Iruka's window. Hopefully, Kakashi would get it in time.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Riku was fast asleep on Iruka's couch when he heard a gentle knock. Closing his eyes, he steeled himself for the worst, though he doubted Riku's 'mean dad' would knock so calmly. When he reached the door he called again to the other side.

"Who is it?"

"Prince charming." Came the amused answer. Iruka recognized the voice instantly and tried to ignore the fact that his heart was racing. He really needed to get a grip. Iruka opened the door and found Kakashi staring back at him with his arms crossed.

"So. The drama continues."

That brought a smile to Iruka's face, though he tried to calm it. "Come in, please." Iruka stepped aside and gestured for his soon-to-be-Hokage to enter. Kakashi did so, his eyes instantly settling on the small form nestled on Iruka's couch. He sighed as he slipped off his shoes.

"It's a pretty big mess. We got a frantic call from his mother earlier in the night. Not only is Riku missing, but his father, too. She said he was out looking for him...but the chuunin who received her message thought something was sketchy about how terrified she sounded."

Iruka closed the door with a frown. "He mentioned in class today how upset he was that his real father was so different from his dream father. That his real father 'wasn't nice'."

Kakashi slowly made his way to the young boy. He was still sleeping peacefully despite the noise they'd made.

"Geeze. Did you drug him?"

Iruka shot Kakashi a look. "He's probably just tired from stress."

"Mm." Kakashi answered absently as he knelt beside the couch. Very gently, the jounin pushed against the young boys shoulder. "Wake up, Riku."

With a little groan, Riku rolled over to face Kakashi. As soon as he realized who it was he jumped up with a start. "No way! Kakashi-sama!"

The copy-nin laughed and smiled. "In the flesh. We've got a bit of a situation here Riku, and I'm going to need your help so I can figure out what to do. You'll help me out, right?"

The young boy nodded enthusiastically.

"Great. Here's the deal. Your mom is looking for you, and she's very worried. But, you seem to have told Iruka-sensei that you don't want to go home because of your father. Is that true?"

Riku looked terrified. He grasped the pillow closest to him and hugged it to his chest. Kakashi placed a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed.

"Don't be afraid, Riku. All we want is to help you. I'm going to be Hokage tomorrow, so you and everyone else in this village are my responsibility. What kind of Hokage would I be if I let you get hurt?"

Iruka watched Kakashi interact with Riku with what he could only describe as growing attraction. Naruto had always talked about how horrible Kakashi had been at "dealing with children" when they were younger, but that wasn't what Iruka saw now. Kakashi was tender and sweet and it was literally killing him from the groin up.

"I..." Riku squeaked into the pillow. Kakashi merely smiled and waited.

"Dad will be mad. Real mad."

"Well, we can deal with him later. That's no problem." Kakashi explained. "What I want to know is this: Do you feel your father is a threat to your safety?"

Riku, his body practically melded with the pillow, slowly nodded.

"Okay. Can you give me a yes or no, Riku?"

"...Yes."

Kakashi stood and gently ruffled Riku's hair. "Alright. What about your mother? Do you feel safe with her?"

"Not when she's with Dad." Riku pouted. "She's no help."

"Hmm."

Kakashi turned to Iruka, who had a split second to collect himself before Kakashi saw the stars in his eyes. "I think I want to leave him here for the night. Is that alright?"

"Absolutely." Iruka answered without hesitation. "He can take my bed if he wants."

"Excellent."

Kakashi turned back to Riku. "Do you want to stay with Iruka-Sensei tonight?"

Riku nodded so enthusiastically he had to catch the pillow after it popped out of his arms.

"Then, you shall. We're going to find your father and ask him some questions-"

"-NO!" Riku shouted, jumping onto the couch. "That's a terrible idea!"

"Riku, show Kakashi-sama respect and sit down." Iruka ordered gently.

Slowly and bashfully, Riku did as he was told.

"Don't worry about him. I told you I'd protect you, and I meant it." Kakashi responded with a smile. "This will be my first promise as Hokage."

Riku blushed furiously and stuffed his face into his pillow. It seemed he was as star-struck as Iruka. "Okay...Hokage-sama."

With one last tousle of his hair, Kakashi spun and walked to the door. Iruka followed him and turned the handle as Kakashi put his sandals back on. When the jounin stood, he stepped right up to Iruka so they could whisper without the child hearing.

"Something is off about this situation. Riku is terrified of his father, but shows no signs of physical abuse. I want to find this guy and question him before we jump to conclusions."

Iruka fought down the blush that curled around his face as Kakashi's breath ghosted over his ear and neck.

"Yes, I agree. Riku is a good student, so I don't think he'd lie, but...you never know."

"Keep him close to you in case there's any danger."

"Yes...Hokage-sama."

Kakashi leaned back, his eyes mischievous. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you enjoyed calling me that."

"It suits you." Iruka responded quickly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but from what Iruka could see with his mask, the grin was still in place.

"I suppose time will tell."

With that, Kakashi saluted Iruka and walked out the door. The chuunin gently closed it, and while his back was still to Riku, exhaled loudly against the cherry wood. He had a bad feeling he was in trouble. He'd wanted to see Kakashi so badly, and when he did, it was like he craved being closer to him. He'd never been so attracted to anyone in his life.

Deciding that was enough self-pity for the night, Iruka turned and smiled at Riku. "Alright. Time for bed!"

"Awww!"

"No complaints, it's definitely past your bedtime."

It took almost thirty minutes to wrangle the child, brush his teeth, wash his face and get him into bed. Riku protested taking Iruka's, but his sensei assured him he could sleep just fine on the floor. He pulled out some spare blankets and pillows and made himself a comfortable little nook.

"There. See? Nothing to it."

Riku crawled under the covers and pulled them up to his nose. "Sorry to be such a bother..."

Iruka smiled and gently touched the top of his head. "It's no bother. Just get to sleep, alright?"

The chuunin sat on his makeshift bed and cracked open a book. He didn't see the point in going to sleep since he was sure Kakashi would be back at some point in the night. Riku's father wasn't a shinobi to his knowledge, so it would be easy for the search party to find him.

At least, it should be.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Warmth. Electricity. Iruka's body hummed with it. At first, he wasn't sure where it was coming from. Only that it was good.

Slowly, Iruka began to recognize touches. He sighed loudly as he felt a confident, strong hand slide down his stomach. His hips bucked and his back arched when he felt callused fingers grasp his growing erection. A loud moan escaped his lips. He wanted to be embarrassed, but it felt incredible. Lips kissed a row of fire down his chest, sucked on one of his nipples. Vaguely he realized he must have been dreaming. But who of? He couldn't tell who was touching him, kissing him. The hand on his groin began gently pumping along his length and he moaned again, long and light. Someone chuckled and kissed his lips.

This seemed awfully real for a dream.

He gasped, arched, pulled against his restraints.

Restraints? That was weird.

Slowly, things started to come into focus. He could almost see his room through the fogginess of his sleep. Was he dreaming? He had to be.

A tongue dragged along his neck, sucked on the flesh just under his ear. He was panting, the pleasure was so great. His legs felt like they were going numb.

Speaking of numb, his wrists felt really weird. Like someone had tied something tight around them.

His eyes shot open, the room finally clear.

It WAS his bedroom.

So...it wasn't a dream.

_**WHAT.**_

Iruka jerked violently, trying to throw the body on top of him.

"Who is that!" He screamed, trying to free his arms. They were tied above his head to his nightstand. Whoever had done it had been smart enough to separate his hands and fingers so he couldn't perform jutsu. How the hell had this happened while he was alseep? When did he even fall asleep?

Laughter. The person on top of him pushed himself up enough to look down at Iruka with a wide grin. It was a young man, maybe around his age. Attractive, fit, with scarring on his shoulder and midsection. A ninja.

Frantically, Iruka craned his head up to look at his bed. Riku was gone.

"Who the hell are you and where is Riku?" Iruka snarled. He was completely disoriented. How the hell had this asshole tied him to his nightstand and molested him for so long without Iruka knowing!?

The man laughed again, wiggling his hips as he sat on Iruka's waist. "You're adorable."

"Answer my question."

His grin widened, if that was possible. "I am Riku."

Iruka stared at him, hard.

The man stared back.

"How?"

"I'm really good at disguise jutsu." He explained with a shrug. "It's kind of a blood-line thing. I know, it's unfair. That's why your Hokage didn't detect it. Not that he has his Sharingan anymore, of course. That would have helped."

It was totally ridiculous that Iruka was furious about the way "Riku" talked about Kakashi, especially since he had worse things to worry about. But, you know. Attraction.

"Were...you Riku at school today?"

"Yup. He was home sick."

"But...the call..."

"That was me. I sent your precious ninja pal's on a wild goose chase. Aren't I smart?"

Iruka's stomach fell.

Fuck.

"There is no way you're going to fool them for long."

"I know. So, let's get back to it, shall we?" He purred. Without wasting anymore time, he gripped Iruka's length and slid his hand around it. Iruka pulled hard against his restrains, twisting his torso to try and move away from his captor's grip.

"_STOP_."

The man merely laughed. "You were having such a good time before..." Riku whispered as he fondled Iruka. "Just relax. You should have heard yourself...oh. It was wonderful. Exactly what I imagined."

"You...you went through ALL this trouble just to...to..."

"Fuck you? Uh. Yah? I feel like people put in way more effort to do just that all the time."

"This is rape."

"Tsk, tsk." Riku chided, leaning down and biting Iruka's bare shoulder. "It's only rape if it's non-consensual."

"I AM NOT CONSENTING." He cried as he yanked violently on the ropes binding his arms. He felt blood start to bead around his wrists. Whatever 'Riku' had tied him with, it was definitely chakra reinforced. His nightstand should have gone flying across the room by now.

Iruka calmed himself and focused chakra into his legs. He'd kick this asshole into the next century.

When Riku settled himself onto his hips, Iruka whipped them to the side and smashed his knee into his captors side. To his utter horror, Riku blocked his attack and forced his leg down with such strength he nearly ripped his entire inner thigh muscle fighting against him.

Holy shit. He might actually be really strong.

"Iruka." Came his voice in a warning tone. "I don't want to hurt you. But, as you mentioned, I have limited time. So. It's up to you."

"Why do you want me?" Iruka panted, looking as confused and flustered as he could. They'd already wasted at least two minutes talking, maybe he could buy himself more time.

Slowly, Riku leaned down and dragged the tip of his tongue along Iruka's lips. "Because you're so sweet." He purred, grinding his hips against Iruka's. "I have a thing for nice guys. So sue me."

"Where are you from? I don't understand how you made it into the villa-"

His lips were captured and his words swallowed. He supposed this was better than actual sex, so he decided to go with it. Slowly, hesitatingly, he opened his mouth to Riku. A tongue dipped in, expertly sliding against his own. Their kiss was surprisingly tender, if you wanted to call it that. Iruka supposed he'd actually be a good kisser if the person he kissed was in any way willing.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to think logically. Kakashi and the others were smart; especially Kakashi. Iruka hadn't expected them to take longer than an hour to find Riku's "father", so he didn't think it would take longer than that for them to realize it was fake. All they had to do was send someone to Riku's house, presumably to talk to his mom, and the whole charade was ruined. He just had to hang on until then.

But...he had no idea how long he'd "slept" before the Riku imposter had started molesting him. There was no way he could hold out for an hour without getting _seriously_ compromised.

"AH!" Iruka gasped. He clenched his teeth. Riku was fondling him again, stroking him. He hated it, but his body disagreed.

"Oh yah...come on, Iruka. Louder. Like before."

This...was...just the most _humiliating_ thing...

"How did you find me?" He panted, desperately trying to distract 'Riku'.

"Hmm? Your house? That was easy, it's not a very big village."

Clearly he and Kakashi had to have a talk about post-war village security if he made it out of this situation alive and with even a shred of dignity.

"No...at the school...I don't understand... "

"Ohhhh..."

Riku spread Iruka's legs and hoisted up his hips. The chuunin teacher started to panic. Obviously Riku wanted to get down to business.

"That will be my little secret. But, you should be flattered. I noticed you right away. You just have this adorable vibe. Anyway."

Riku pulled down his pants, his erection coming into view. Iruka tried not to panic, but things did not look good for him.

"Wait! Aren't you...going to use something?"

"Hmm? Oh. Haha, no. Sorry. I totally didn't think of that. I've never actually had sex with a guy before."

Iruka blanched. "...What?"

"I know, right? That's just how cute you are."

Gee MgGee.

"In my kitchen. Please." Iruka begged, trying to look appealing. "There's oil in the drawer near the fridge. Please..."

Riku sighed and smiled. "Well. Alright. I did mean it when I said I didn't want to hurt you, and I guess that would hurt."

He lowered Iruka's hips, put himself back into his pants and stood. "Be back in a sec!"

Iruka waited until he was gone before quickly concentrating as well as his frayed nerves allowed him. He focused chakra into his legs again, and wicked fast, flipped them up over his head and smashed his feet into his night stand. It didn't even budge. Iruka bit his lip as pain rippled down his ankles. Slowly, he lowered his hips and his legs flopped down again. Wow. He was completely helpless. Hands immobilized, arms where he couldn't attack, and a strong enough enemy to physically keep him down.

Speaking of down, Iruka glanced down at himself and cursed. The bastard had sliced off his shirt, but thankfully left his pants. They were pushed low on his hips, but he wiggled around and managed to cover himself. He didn't know why be bothered, but...

A moment later Iruka heard footsteps approaching his room. Panic started to tear its way up his throat. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. He closed his eyes and prayed, begged for Kakashi. Begged to be found.

A loud crash made his heart stop. He listened. Another crash, a hiss. The sound of metal on metal.

Someone was here. Someone had come.

Iruka could have cried. He almost did, really.

A couple of minutes of silence passed. He couldn't believe the mental torture.

He heard footsteps again, approaching the room. He begged. He prayed.

_Please, please, please, please..._

A figure stood in the dark, looking down on him. Iruka scooted back, terrified of who he'd see.

"Iruka..."

His heart stopped.

Kakashi stepped into the light, his arm dripping blood. Iruka nearly cried out.

"_Kakashi_. Thank God..." He gasped, convinced he'd moaned it if he hadn't had more control.

The sounds of other shinobi filled his ears. They were in his living room.

"Holy shit, Kakashi was right..."

"Looks like he's still alive. Tie him up and get his ass out of here."

"How the hell did he get into the village..."

"Where's Iruka?"

Panic seized him again. He looked into Kakashi's eyes, begged.

"Dont let them see me like this..."

Kakashi's face hardened and he instantly turned and called into the hallway. "He's fine, I've got it." Before shutting the door with a loud 'click'. Iruka sighed.

"Thank you..."

Kakashi, his face a mask, knelt beside Iruka. He eyed the cord that tied him to his nightstand. He eyed his entire body. Iruka felt himself flush under Kakashi's gaze, his skin prickling.

"Are you hurt?" he asked softly.

"No. You were right on time." Iruka laughed, though his voice was strained. "But, my wrists..."

"No problem." Kakashi murmured. He pulled out a kunai, held it tightly in his hand. Chakra burst forth and slid up the metal tip, illuminating it. Kakashi held the cord tightly with one hand, and in a wicked fast slice, cut the cord with the other.

Iruka slumped instantly, hissing. He had been too panicked to realize how much his wrists hurt.

"Thank you."

Kakashi laid down the kunai. He placed an arm under Iruka's back and helped to gently lift him into a sitting position.

"He didn't...touch you?" Kakashi asked, his eyes locking with Iruka's. He was worried. He had been panicking, too. He was angry. Furious.

"Uhhh..." Iruka turned a violent shade of red. "He...He did. I don't know for how long. I just...sat down on my bed with a book, and the next thing I remember...I was sleeping and...I thought it was a dream..."

Iruka realized that he was totally mortified. What a ridiculous, compromising position to be found in. At least he'd had a moment to kind of pull up his pants; he didn't want to think about THAT awkward situation.

Iruka was suddenly aware of how close Kakashi was. The jounin seemed to be peering into Iruka's eyes, assessing him. His arm remained around the chuunin's bare back, tight and strong and supportive. Iruka realized he was practically being cradled by the older ninja.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked, his voice soft and inviting.

Iruka swallowed. He nodded. "Yes. Just...a bit shaken. But I'm fine."

Kakashi didn't let up. "It's past midnight. Which means I'm Hokage. You wouldn't lie to the Hokage, would you?"

Iruka couldn't help but smile. "No, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi smiled back. "Good. Anything I can do for you?"

Iruka wordlessly held up his wrists and Kakashi got to work bandaging them. The chuunin felt gross all over, his nerves were frayed, and he definitely was going to be terrified of having children in his bedroom for the next little while. But...he was ok. And right now, he was kind of in heaven. Kakashi was gently, tenderly bandaging his raw wrists and in so doing, had Iruka leaning against his side for support. After tonight, Iruka could no longer deny he was crushing hard on Kakashi. He wondered if that was why he hadn't been able to see what his partner had looked like in his dream. Because, at the time, he hadn't really understood what he wanted.

He sure did now.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next morning Iruka nearly jumped awake, his eyes wide. Naturally, he'd had a nightmare of random hands wandering all over his body. In his dream, he'd tried with all of his power to fight them off, but hadn't been able to move a muscle. He assumed he'd be having those dreams for a while, but as long as he woke up without a crazy person grinding against him, he could deal with it.

Iruka threw off his sheets and rubbed his temples. It was 11:00 pm, but classes had been cancelled and Tsunande had basically ordered him to be confined to his house anyway. Riku was now with Ibiki in the interrogation unit, so he was _definitely _getting his come-uppance. No one undestood how he had managed to sneak into the village, figure out which child was absent, pose as that child and then fool every single person he came into contact with into believing he was that kid. Kakashi had seemed particularly upset, especially since he'd come in direct contact with "Riku."

"He said it was a blood-line limit, Kakashi-sama. They are a different kind of animal all together. Don't be upset." Iruka had explained.

Kakashi had merely flicked his eyes to the side. "We'll see what interrogation comes up with."

Tsunande had practically been beside herself with fury. She paced back and forth, muttering to herself.

"Comes into my village -sorry, _our_ village- poses amongst our children and then tries to have his way with one of our ninja. He's damn lucky he's with Ibiki."

Iruka looked down at his feet. "That's...the most worrying part. He was with the children. What if what happened to me had happened to one of them instead?"

A very thick silence settled amongst them. Clearly, the thought had passed through all of their minds. Iruka considered it a lucky break that it was him instead. He would have gladly taken that from one of his pre-genin. As humiliating as it was, Iruka would get over it. But a child? It could ruin his or her life.

"Iruka. Have you been to the hospital wing?" Tsunande had suddenly asked.

"Oh..." The sensei blushed. "No, there's really no need."

Tsunande gave him a hard look that suggested there was very much a need.

"You said that one minute you were wide awake, and the next, it was La La Land. He clearly did something to you, Iruka. Go to the hospital."

Well. One did not simply argue against Tsunande, regardless of whether or not she was still the Hokage. Iruka had said his goodbyes and had gone to the hospital wing as he was ordered. Luckily, he had checked out clean. The nurse assumed it was a jutsu that he used and not any kind of potion or powder. She gave Iruka a couple of anti-anxiety and sleeping pills just in case and ordered him to get plenty of sleep.

Iruka was just considering getting some more sleep when he heard a knock at his door. Smiling, he stepped off of his bed and padded across the living room. It had to be Naruto; he was the only one who would respond this fast.

He opened the door, expecting to see his blond student. His jaw fell open when he saw a certain silver-haired Hokage smiling back at him instead.

"Good afternoon."

"Ah...Kakashi-sama..."

"You look well rested. I suppose that's why you missed the celebration?"

Celebration...

Iruka's eyes flew open. Oh, no! He'd missed Kakashi being officially inaugurated as Hokage. He felt a terrible twisting in his stomach. He had actually really, really wanted to be there.

"I...I'm sorry..."

Kakashi laughed. It was a light, joyful one. "It's alright. I'm glad you got a lot of sleep; you needed it. How are you feeling?"

On the opposite side of the door, Iruka fiddled with the door handle as an outlet for his nervousness. Kakashi made him feel like a 12 year old boy. "Fine, I think. I had a really weird dream, but that's to be expected. The nurse gave me something to help me sleep, but I was exhausted so I passed right out."

"Hmm. So you don't even have drugs as an excuse for sleeping until mid-afternoon." The Hokage sighed, resting his arm on the door frame above Iruka. "I suppose my face_ is _going to be on the mountain forever. You can pass by it every day and pay your respects then."

Iruka scoffed and crossed his arms, about to say something witty and intelligent (certainly) in response, but Kakashi cut him off by pushing away from the door with a wink.

"Anyway. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Last night was..." He trailed off, his eyes hardening. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Iruka."

It was like a little mini Iruka was skipping around his chest cavity and round-house kicking his heart, then bear-hugging it until he could barely breathe. He prayed none of how he was feeling showed on his face. "Thank you for your concern, Kakashi-sama. And thank you for helping me."

Kakashi's smile nearly sent Iruka's stomach up into his skull.

"I will do whatever I can to protect all of my precious subjects."

The only response Iruka could manage was a nervous laugh and a dopey grin. Kakashi gently bowed his head, to which Iruka responded with a much lower bow, and then he was gone. Just as suddenly has he came.

Slowly, Iruka closed the door. He paused briefly, leaning his forehead against the door frame. After a moment he turned back to his apartment. As he walked, he took notice of the lamp next to his small couch. He glared at it.

_Why don't you just fall in love with the lamp, Iruka? You have just as much chance with that lamp as you do with Kakashi. Go ahead, Iruka. Love lamp._

He continued forward. His foot brushed against the rug on his floor.

_Look, a rug. Love it, Iruka. Love the rug._

He sighed loudly and forced himself to stop being pathetic.

_So you're hopeless. So what? You have your students...hopefully...and you have Naruto. You're a valued member of society. And, what's more, you're still alive. You should be grateful to still exist on this earth. Some were not that fortunate._

Iruka nearly leaped out of his skin when another knock sounded through his door. He rushed back, opened it, and to his surprise Kakashi was there.

"Just thought I would warn you that Naruto found out exactly what happened. So. You have around five minutes of breathing normally before he kicks down your door and asphyxiates you with his ridiculous rib hugs."

Iruka turned completely white.

"He...he knows _everything_?"

Kakashi looked sorry as he responded. "Mostly. It's a long story. I know this wasn't what you wanted, but at least you'll have someone around to fend off those nightmares. He's probably not going to leave your side for a couple of days."

Iruka felt another blush forming and valiantly fended it off. "Well, thank you for the warning. Maybe I'll put my vest on as a buffer."

Kakashi smiled and saluted him. "Good luck." before turning to leave. Something panicked in Iruka, something made him want to rush out and stop Kakashi. Stop him and make him stay. Stop him so they could talk more.

He was being ridiculous. Kakashi was Hokage, he had things to do.

Get him, Iruka. Don't let him leave.

But...what could I possibly say?

Go before you never see him again.

Oh...come on. I'll see him again.

Will you? What excuse could you possibly have?

"...Kakashi!"

Iruka froze, horrified, as the name escaped his mouth before he'd even thought of saying it.

_OhMyGodOhMyGodWhatAmIDoingHowAmIAnAdult..._

The Hokage stopped and turned, his expression questioning but pleasant. Iruka realized that he had exactly one second to say something or he was going to make a total and utter ass of himself.

"Ahhh...please...let me know what information you get from my assailant. I'm worried that maybe he interacted with some of the children in a detrimental way."

A pleasant smile followed his question, which nearly made his knees buckle in relief. Either Kakashi was really good at covering his distaste or he hadn't noticed that Iruka had totally pulled that question out of his ass. Although...now that he mentioned it, it did kind of worry him.

"Of course, Iruka. I promise I will keep you updated. Oh. I also plan on letting you know when classes are to start again. We want to make sure the village is secure before we do that, though."

"That's great. Thank you, Kakashi. Ah! Kakashi-sama. S-sorry. That was...rude. I mean. Hokage-sama. Ah..."

Iruka turned blood red as he stood, floundering, before Kakashi. The jounin watched him, his eyes saying something Iruka could not decipher. It was literally a toss up of "you're dumb but cute" and "you're dumb". Which ever one it was, the chuunin did not have time to figure out. Kakashi smiled, nodded his farewell, and continued on his way.

Iruka slowly shuffled back to his apartment, shut the door, and proceeded to bash his head against the wall until he felt like a 27 year old again and not a toddler.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

HOPE YA'LL LIKED THE FIRST CHAPTER! This fic will be a little different than how I normally do, obviously. I usually write smaller chapters, and actually I intended to make this just one long fic...but then I didn't. ALSO, I realize this is my first KakaIru in a long ass time, but there was something about the manga ending that made me want to explore it again. R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi's warning had been well placed. Naruto bounded though Iruka's door not ten minutes later, swearing vengeance and crushing Iruka's rib cage simultaneously. It took some time, but eventually Iruka convinced Naruto that he wasn't scarred for life and could still function regularly in society.

"But...UGH. Some weird dude like...touching you. How did you deal with that?"

Iruka rubbed his forehead for the millionth time. This was definitely the most awkward conversation he had ever had. "Well. I didn't really have a choice, Naruto."

"But...UGH."

Iruka sighed. "Yes. It was Ugh. I don't really want to dwell on it."

"But...EWW."

The chuunin eyed his younger friend with pursed lips. "Would it make you feel better if I 'ewwed' with you?"

Naurto blinked. "But I'm trying to make _you_ feel better."

Now Iruka laughed, and it was genuine. "Naruto. I really appreciate it, but going through the details does not make me feel better. Though, having you as company does. What do you say we play a game or something?"

The blond perked up instantly. "Sure! But...you're really alright? You don't need to like..spar? To get out pent up aggression or bitterness?"

Iruka stood and collected their tea cups. "No, Naruto. Sometimes things happen that are...unpleasant. It's the way of the ninja. There are so many others in our village who have been through worse than that, multiple times. I've had a very easy life here in Konoha."

"Heh heh...Iruka-sensei is invincible." Naruto responded affectionately, his trade mark toothy grin firmly in place. The chuunin turned to regard his younger student. The two of them smiled at each other, the love between them palpable in the air. Iruka placed the dishes in the sink and walked back to his blond companion.

"I wish." He sighed as he tousled the blond's hair. "But you certainly seem to be, war hero."

Naruto turned red and playfully swatted Iruka's hands away. "I'll stay with you for the next two days. To make sure no creepo puts his grubby hands on my Iruka-sensei."

"What happens if he tried to put his grubby hands on you?" Iruka teased.

"UGH THEN I'D THROW HIM INTO THE SUN!" Naruto exclaimed, leaping off of the couch and scratching his body all over. "SO GROSS SO GROSS!"

Iruka laughed as he watched Naruto completely spazz out. The chuunin always wondered why Naruto was so 'homo-sensitive'. You couldn't jokingly insinuate anything between him and another man without the blond going totally over the edge. Actually, Iruka remembered Naruto telling him that Kakashi had tried to say something genuinely nice to him and he'd freaked out. Something about Kakashi liking him.

Hmm. It made you wonder.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Just as Naruto promised, two days passed in his company. Iruka definitely wasn't complaining as the two had hardly spent any time together for the last little while. Their days mostly consisted of playing dice, eating far too much food and trying to assure Naruto that he wouldn't have any deep psychological trauma from his recent attack.

When the excitable blond finally left, Iruka found himself looking around his apartment and feeling a little empty. It made him want to ask Naruto to move in with him.

Except that picturing himself living with Naruto involved constantly cleaning up after him, cooking for him and having to entertain him. As much as he loved Naruto and cared about his growth, he didn't want to turn into his dad. Naruto may be a war hero, but he was still a teenager. Iruka was also slightly terrified that he would get 'comfortable' kind of...fathering Naruto and would never bother starting his own family.

The thought of family reminded him of his 'dream' and brought more heaviness to his heart. He found himself wondering what Kakashi was doing, if he was enjoying being Hokage. If...he ever thought of Iruka...

A loud PANG nearly caused the chuunin to have an aneurism. He whirled around and saw one of the delivery falcons desperately trying to get in through his window. Iruka ran over, opened the window and accepted the message.

_Iruka-sensei,_

_I have news for you. Please come as soon as possible._

_Kakashi._

_I mean, Kakashi-sama. I mean, Kakashi-san. I mean, Hokage-sama._

Iruka turned bright, neon red at Kakashi's mocking signature.

But.

It also made him smile.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"I want to say I can't get over it. But, I'm not really that surprised." Tsunande sighed as she handed the piece of paper back to Ibiki. "Crazy is as crazy does."

"Deep. Where did you get that from?" Kakashi remarked cheekily.

"Your mom."

Ibiki barked out a laugh. "There's something wrong with you two."

Kakashi and Tsunande tried to look innocent and pointed to themselves in question.

"Anyway." Ibiki resumed, clearing his throat. "I was in there with that nutcase for two days. That's honestly all I could get out of him, and I tried everything. We did get some excellent DNA for the lab, though. He does have some amazing abilities."

"Hmm." Kakashi pondered as he slipped the piece of paper from Ibiki's fingers and gazed at it again. "I suppose I'll send the message to Mist that he's here. You've been in touch with Mei, haven't you?"

"Yes." Tsunande answered. "She's the one who sent me the news about their own little circus performance. I suppose the world can't change all at once."

"What happened, again?"

"Oh. A bunch of mercenaries decided to breach their boarders and set all their corn fields on fire. I guess they didn't get the memo about the "Mist" part of the village name. The fire didn't last long."

Kakashi snorted. "Isn't there a river running along their agricultural centre?"

"Yip."

"Ah."

"Are you guys going to tell Iruka?" Ibiki asked.

"Yes." Was Kakashi's quick response. "He deserves to know. Besides, the more informed our citizens are, the more likely they are to perform their own damage control. This illusion of 'peace' may cause more harm than good, if these kinds of incidents continue to occur."

"We've strengthened the guard again, haven't we?"

"Indeed, but every single ninja in our village except the genin are exhausted from the war. And we can't exactly have a line of 12 year old's guarding the village."

Ibiki laughed. It was a scary sound. "Why not?"

Tsunande and Kakashi eyed him as if they weren't quite sure if he was joking or being serious. He coughed, embarrassed.

"What? It happened in the last war."

A soft knock at the door saved Ibiki from further judgement.

"Send him in." Kakashi called.

Iruka entered a moment later, bowing respectfully.

"Kakashi-sama, Tsunande-sama. You called?"

"Yes. I suggest having a seat, Iruka." Kakashi responded with a smile.

The chuunin noticed Ibiki then and nodded to him. The two had never really officially met, but Iruka had a good idea of who he was. He took a seat opposite Kakashi and waited for the news.

"So. Ibiki here has been with your assailant for the last two days. He got him to talk, a little. This is what he said."

Kakashi leaned forward and handed Iruka the slip of paper. The chuunin accepted it with slight anxiety. It sure was a small piece of paper. Slowly, he unrolled it. The note simply said:

_I have a thing for nice guys._

Iruka stared at it.

"What...?"

"Huh." Tsunande responded. "That's what Kakashi said."

"In essence." Kakashi continued, ignoring Tsunande. "We're under the assumption that he had no real method to his madness. He was just a miscreant taking advantage of the sensitive state of the village. He's originally from Mist, and will be either imprisoned here or sent back there. Whatever the Mizukage wants."

Iruka nodded slowly. Well. He supposed that was better than having been part of some giant, perverted master plan.

"Things like this have been happening everywhere, apparently." Kakashi continued. "Mist had their crops attacked, Cloud had a vandal breach their walls and dig up all the dead bodies in their graveyards. I forgot...what happened in Sand?"

Tunsnade laughed loudly and slapped her thigh. "Oh, someone who was obsessed with Gaara tried to get into his bedroom. She dressed up like a maid. They don't have maids."

Iruka looked between the two of them with his mouth slightly hanging open. He had absolutely no idea any of this was going on.

"I...see. Do you think we're in any real danger?" The chuunin asked Kakashi.

"Well. It's hard to say, but we have increased security as much as our resources allow."

"I'm not teaching at the moment." Iruka supplied, his face and tone serious. "Put me on guard duty."

Tsunande, Kakashi and Ibiki stared at him. Tsunande and Ibiki just looked surprised, but there was something deeper to Kakashi's glance that had Iruka desperately praying he wasn't blushing.

"Are you sure you're up for that, Iruka?" Kakashi asked softly.

"Of course. Everyone has to do their part."

With a smile, Kakashi turned and pulled a scroll off of his desk. "Well." he started, toying with it gently. "We weren't planning on holding off class for much longer, but I'll put you on for an afternoon shift at the gate tomorrow. How does that sound?"

Iruka absolutely beamed. "That's perfect. I'm glad to be of service."

The three other occupants in the room smiled with him.

"Well. Now that we've managed to guilt guard duty out of Iruka, I think we should let him have the rest of the day to himself." Tsunande chuckled.

"I can see him out." Kakashi offered. Iruka's insides instantly started doing somersaults. He wondered if this was ever going to get better.

Iruka said his goodbyes to the other occupants of the Hokage's office before he was ushered out of the room by Kakashi. If Iruka didn't know any better, and from his biased standpoint he sure didn't, he would think Kakashi was in a rush to get them alone.

Once the door to the office was closed, Kakashi turned to Iruka with a soft smile.

"You bounce back fast, Sensei."

Iruka scratched his nose in embarrassment. "Well...I'm so used to being busy, it's been strange having nothing to do. Now I can fill my day with something."

"You mean Naruto wasn't enough?"

"Oh!" Iruka laughed lightly. "Yes, he's a handful. But having him around was nice. It's good to have company."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Iruka realized he just opened the door to talk about the lack of people generally in his apartment. He hoped Kakashi would just ignore it and steer down another avenue.

"You don't usually...?"

Shit.

"Ah...I..." Iruka stammered, desperately trying to think up an excuse. "Well, evenings are usually spent marking, and then there's the missions desk. Besides, I spend my entire day surrounded by people. At night, it's nice to just relax by myself."

Boom. Iruka was sure he nailed that one.

There was this...wolfish kind of half smirk happening that was so intimidating it was noticeable under Kakashi's mask. Iruka kind of wanted to run.

"Oh. So. You spend your nights by yourself?"

"...Yes..."

"But, on purpose?"

Iruka wasn't sure how to respond, but he felt himself becoming insecure and with that, defensive.

"Well, great Kakashi-sama. How do you usually spend _your _nights?" Iruka snapped back, crossing his arms over his chest.

The Hokage did not seemed deterred in the slightest.

"Alone, mostly. Well. I've been spending a lot of time with Tsunande lately."

Iruka blinked.

"...So..."

"I didn't mean there was anything wrong with it, Sensei. I was just curious."

Iruka shot him a flat look. "So. You were baiting me."

Kakashi's grin seemed to grow, if that was even possible. "I'm simply trying to make conversation."

It seemed like Naruto may not have been _completely_ off when he said that Kakashi was infuriating and incorrigible. However. Their banter, to Iruka's horror, was kind of turning him on. There was just something about someone who was intelligently dickish that got to him where the going was good. It helped that Iruka knew that in actuality, Kakashi was one of the nicest, bravest people he'd ever known. So the douche part was really just for fun.

But that didn't mean he wasn't mad. Cause he was totally mad.

"Well. We've conversed. I suppose I'll be going now." Iruka huffed. He spun on his heel and made to leave, but Kakashi planted his palm on the wall across from him and blocked him in with his arm.

"Storming off on the Hokage? Iruka-sensei. I didn't know you were capable of such disrespect."

Shit. Kakashi got him right in the tender part. Obviously, he was joking. Kakashi did not take himself seriously at all, no matter what position he was in. However. Iruka had an ingrained, deeply rooted respect and OCDness for the 'rules' and tradition. Technically, Kakashi was the Hokage. So, technically, he should be treating him the way he'd treat any other Hokage.

Iruka breathed deeply and turned back around. Kakashi's grin was gone and his face was a blank slate, but his eyes danced with mischief. He was totally fucking with Iruka and was definitely going to get away with it. Because for some reason, Kakashi being able to control him made Iruka want to tackle the copy-nin and rip his clothes off. Go figure.

"Please excuse me, Hokage-sama." Iruka continued with obviously exaggerated formality. "For my insolence. I ask your permission to retire to my apartment."

Kakashi slowly dropped his arm, staring down at Iruka with a quiet intensity. "That's more like it. Granted."

Iruka tilted his chin up in frustrated defiance, then stepped back and swooped down into a very low, traditional bow. He paused, his head level with Kakashi's waist, before bringing himself back up again. The chuunin froze, his eyes captured by Kakashi's.

The Hokage's face was completely neutral, but his eyes were _smouldering_. Iruka found himself struggling to breathe, as if he was trapped and drowning. He had planned to walk away, to turn and leave, but he was frozen in place. His chest rose and fell with his lungs laboured efforts. He could feel a pool of heat collecting in his stomach.

Something told him he had to leave. He had to assert himself.

First, his shoulders turned. He took a step forward. Last, oh so last, he was able to tear his gaze away from Kakashi's. It was like breaking through the surface of water. He inhaled as silently as he could when he walked away, but it was like someone had been squeezing his lungs. He forced himself not to look back, but he could have sworn he felt the heat of Kakashi's eyes on him as he left.

When Iruka got back to his apartment, all he could do was stare at the ceiling and think about Kakashi. He was...something else. Iruka was utterly and totally lost in him. The word 'sexy' kept popping up in the chuunin's head, a word he had never felt the need to use in his life. Kakashi was sexy. Iruka had no idea how to deal with it. The last thing the school teacher saw himself as was sexy, so how in the world would he ever be able to...

...To what?

The idea of being with Kakashi was just ludicrous. First of all, Iruka had JUST kind of...accepted that he swung in a different direction than most people. Despite the fact that Kakashi had looked like he wanted to eat him alive not an hour ago, the chances of him liking men as well were slim to none. Kakashi was a bit of a strange person; he read porn in public and was notorious for jerking people around when it suited him. Just because he flirted with Iruka didn't mean he actually wanted him. Iruka just needed to accept that and stop. Now that they'd actually established some sort of...friendship, he didn't want to ruin it by trying to force an envelope that wasn't going to open.

Despite telling himself this over and over, Iruka could not stop thinking about the way Kakashi had looked at him. Like he had barely escaped being completely devoured.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next day, Iruka happily prepared for guard duty. As a shinobi, he always had weapons on him, even if he was just teaching. It was kind of an 'always on active duty' thing that all ninja complied with. You could be the ninja that swept the floor around the guard post, but you still had to be ready and able to fight. So, filling his packs with weapons and readying himself for battle shouldn't have really been a big deal.

But it so was.

He realized he was really low on explosive tags. Half his kunai had an inch of dust on them. His medpack hadn't been used in so long some of the antibiotics were expired.

Damn he was boring.

After a quick, refreshing stop to the weapons shop, Iruka was suited up and ready to go. He actually was a little embarrassed at himself for how excited he was. Anyone assigned to guard duty dreaded it, yet here he was, thinking it was the best thing ever. He actually got to actively protect the village. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done that.

"Hey!" Iruka greeted to the gate watcher. "Umino Iruka reporting."

"Ohhh. Yes, I was sent a message about you. Thank you for your time." The guard greeted with a smile. He checked Iruka's I.D then sent him to his post. Luckily for him, he got to stand outside of the gate, which meant he had a great view of the beautiful path and trees that lead into the city. He took a deep breath, put down his pack, and began his first day on guard duty with a big grin on his face.

Hours passed. Occasionally, one of the other guards would pass him by and strike up conversation. He met a handful of new shinobi he'd never even seen before, all promising to go out for drinks some day. The attitude at the wall seemed a little...lax, but, Iruka trusted that everyone was doing their jobs to the best of their ability. He had to admit that it was difficult to concentrate for so long without zoning out. It almost seemed like an ability only an ANBU would possess. Iruka could easily see Kakashi standing where he was, gazing out into the forest without moving an inch for a full 7 hour shift.

He almost hit himself.

_Stop thinking about Kakashi, Iruka._ He chided. Honestly, what good was that going to do anyone? He stood a little taller in an attempt to concentrate. It may have been only one lax guard that let that creep into the village. Iruka didn't want anything like that happening again.

Another couple of hours passed and Iruka found himself wondering how much longer his shift was. They were not allowed watches on guard duty,_ probably_ because people would be checking them every five seconds.

He yawned loudly and scratched his nose. Okay. This was pretty damn dull.

A noise caught his attention in the distance. He stood as still as possible, listening and watching. There was another similar noise to his left, and then one to his right. Alarm bells went off in his head. Iruka had a very bad feeling he was about to be attacked.

Clay pots came flying out of the bush towards him. They were all around the same height, so he merely dropped to the ground and they smashed on the wall behind him.

"ALERT!" Iruka shouted. He heard his comrades yelling to each other behind him.

More random objects came whizzing from all directions. Iruka side-stepped a teddy bear, ducked a tea pot, leaped over a small wooden chair and sliced open a painting that was coming right at his face. He had absolutely no idea what the hell was going on, but he got the impression someone was trying to make him move from his post.

A loud "BOING" sound echoed from the trees and Iruka glanced up just as a cow was launched right at him.

Holy shit. Like an actual cow.

Iruka had no choice. He leaped to the side and the poor animal hit the ground with a wet 'thud'. He tried to race back as fast as possible, but a shinobi was standing on top of the groaning farm animal. The two ninja stared at each other before they both moved. Iruka ran towards him, but the ninja leaped up and grasped onto the wall. Iruka formed his hand seals.

"Isshi Tojin!" He cried. Iruka smashed his hand onto the wall and the seal formed right in the centre of his opponent. Instantly, the shinobi was trapped. Iruka stepped back and spun around, trying to assess the remaining threat level.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see leaf ninja running along the top of the wall. Down below, foot steps were coming towards him. The objects had stopped coming. The poor cow was not in good shape.

Iruka turned back to his captured enemy. The ninja was looking down at him calmly, not at all concerned that he'd just been captured trying to breach a ninja village. Iruka stood beneath him, confused and concerned.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked.

"I wanted to see what was inside these walls." The ninja responded.

Iruka craned an eyebrow. "So...you attacked me with nick-knacks? And a cow?"

"Well. I figured you wouldn't just let me in."

The chuunin gaped in disbelief. It couldn't possibly be this simple. "You...can get a day pass, you know."

The ninja tried to put his hands on his hips, but his movement was severely restricted. "You don't say."

"We're a village, not a barracks. All you had to do was approach the gate, show your I.D. And ask for permission. We do background checks, and you'd need an escort, but...yah."

"Huh." Was all the strange ninja managed to say. "Well. I feel like I fudged this up."

A poof of smoke suddenly separated the two shinobi. Iruka whipped out a kunai, but in an instant, a Konoha ANBU was visible. He looked up at Iruka's handy work, then turned to the chuunin.

"Nicely done. What's with the cow?"

"It...ah. He threw it at me."

The ANBU stood in silence. Iruka could imagine the kind of expression he was making.

"What?"

"Yes. It's strange. He's a little strange."

"I like pudding."

Iruka and the ANBU slowly turned to look up at their guest. He shrugged.

"It's true. I like pudding."

The ANBU sighed deeply. "I can take it from here."

Iruka bowed politely. "Thank you, ANBU-san. I believe my shift is over anyway. It's been exciting."

When Iruka started walking away, he heard the 'enemy' shinobi shout after him with everything he had.

"I LIKE YOUR HAIR!"

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Huh." Kakashi commented as he read the report. "A cow..."

"Indeed." Was the mystery ANBU's simple response.

"I can't recall...has anything like this been reported at the gates before?"

"Not that I know of, Hokage-sama. But I haven't been ANBU that long."

Kakashi hummed again as he skimmed over the incident report. Anyone involved in the situation claimed that the supposed culprit was definitely not 'of sound mind' and, unless the person he was dealing with had no formal ninja training what-so-ever, was 'completely harmless'. The ANBU had listed every single detail of the incident, including the jutsu Iruka had used to capture him. It was impressive that Iruka could even learn seals, because they were _not _easy, but it was one of the most basic capture seals out there. Clearly, the ninja had not been out to maim anyone, or he would have put up a much harder fight than that.

"Thank you, Kiko. I'm going to be calling an ANBU meeting sometime in the next two days. I'll debrief you then."

The ANBU bowed low then disappeared with a gentle 'poof'.

Kakashi tapped his fingers against the desk in thought. What an interesting situation. Definitely not the worst thing he could have fallen into as a new Hokage. Poor Yondaime had had to deal with a friggen _Kyuubi._

A presence tickled against Kakashi's senses. It was one of the gentlest chakra's he'd ever felt, so it was definitely Iruka. He smiled lightly to himself and gently placed the report down on his desk. As he predicted, he heard the ANBU guard address the chuunin at the door.

"Let him in." Kakashi called.

The large wooden doors opened timidly to reveal a smiling, dark haired school teacher. Kakashi smiled back in welcome and Iruka slowly approached him.

"I hope this isn't a bad time." The chuunin greeted.

"No, actually it's perfect timing. I was just going over the incident report from the gate."

Iruka seemed to perk up. "Oh! That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Kakashi gestured for him to sit and Iruka did so. "I see that your first and only guard duty mission wasn't too dull."

Iruka looked like he was going to comment, but stopped and stared in confusion. "My only mission?"

"Yes..." Kakashi began, but paused for a dramatic sigh. He rubbed one of his temples absently. "We've received some complaints from parents that they don't know what to do with their children all day. Most of them are single parents who need to work, some are ninja families who are having trouble finding someone to look after their child while they're out. Either way, we've decided to resume class."

Iruka looked like he wanted to say something. His eyes had gotten considerably harder since he first arrived. "Was there...any indication at all that...well..."

"I'm not sure, Iruka." Kakashi finished for him. "Unfortunately, it seems that the future sanity of our village is on you and the other school teachers shoulders. It may not be a fair burden, but I can't imagine anyone who is better for the task than you."

Iruka sat in stunned silence. He just...had no idea what he had done to deserve such praise from Kakashi, of all people. The chuunin tried to say something, but his mouth just kind of moved without producing any actual sounds. Clearly, that did not help his embarrassment, and soon he was as red as Kakashi's Hokage hat. Kakashi merely smiled pleasantly before he raised a finger.

"Oh. That reminds me."

The Hokage pulled out one of his drawers and rummaged through it casually. Finally, he slipped out a little scroll, sealed with the Hokage's insignia.

"With everything that's been going on with the young students at The Academy, it's given me the impression that they may need a lot more supervision as a whole. I want to make sure they get the help they deserve, and that our lessons and teaching style suit the times and needs of our village. As such, I've basically designed a new position at the Academy. There will now be a Head Master, who is responsible for overseeing all classes, lessons and students. His responsibility will be to look at the big picture, instead of focus on a single class."

Iruka had been nodding the entire time with his eyes wide and bright. That was a brilliant idea, of course. Actually, now that Kakashi was talking about it, Iruka had no idea why they'd never thought of that before.

"That's wonderful, Kakashi-sama. You-"

The scroll was delivered directly into his unsuspecting hands.

"If you will do me the honour, I'd like that Head Master to be you, Iruka-sensei."

It seemed slightly hilarious now that Iruka had been bashful of Kakashi's minor praise not a moment ago. The chuunin stared at the scroll in his hands like it was liquid gold. He felt his entire head go red hot, but at the same time, an excitement was stirring in his gut that made his eyes shine. Head Master...think of all the things he could do. He already wanted to start some kind of after-school program to kind of coach the kids through any kind of crisis they may be going through. He even wanted to start a tutoring program.

Slowly, he looked back up at Kakashi. The jounin was eyeing him curiously, but also with a warmth that Iruka was starting to see more and more in his eyes.

"I...I'm so honoured. But, surely, someone of a higher rank should-"

"Iruka. The fact is, you are the only teacher to come to us with concerns about your students. You're the only one who tried to help them. It is very clear to me that you love them the most, and those kids deserve to be supervised by the person who has their best interests at heart. All the teachers at the Academy are good at what they do, but none of them love it like you do."

The chuunin's heart suddenly felt uncomfortably large in his chest. He never would have expected such trust, and such genuine praise from Kakashi. The Hokage was right, of course. Iruka loved every one of his students as if they were his own children. The fact that Kakashi could see that and rewarded Iruka for it seemed to tie a little rocket to his feelings for the jounin and essentially blast them into outer space. He had a bad feeling he was falling in love, and now he would be busier than ever. Closing his eyes, Iruka took a second to get a grip on himself. Kakashi was obviously waiting for an answer. Iruka stood, clutching the scroll to his chest like it was made of glass, and bowed low to his Hokage.

"Thank you for this great opportunity and responsibility, Hokage-sama. I happily accept, and will do my best for the school and my students."

Kakashi stood as well, a bright smile on his face as he clapped Iruka hard on the shoulder. "Excellent! Well, I knew you would be happy to do it, or I wouldn't have asked." He strode around his desk, coming to stand easily beside Iruka, who was doing his damned best not to make an ass out of himself and just stand there blushing and stammering. Kakashi regarded him with open warmth, his hand resting on his shoulder.

"I'm going to give the word officially to the Academy tomorrow, when school starts. I assumed you wouldn't want to lose your class, so I'm allowing you to teach and be Head Master for the first year. I thought it would be alright for you, but if it get's to be too much work, let me know."

Iruka toyed with the scroll in his hand and tried to ignore how good it felt for Kakashi to touch him. "That should be fine. I have to make some kind of plan...I already have ideas, though."

"Don't worry too much about the logistics. I'm going to write a detailed account of the responsibilities and powers of the Head Master. No one will be able to question your authority, or they'll have to answer to me."

There was a definitive protectiveness in Kakashi's tone that made Iruka's knees feel weak. The chuunin stared at him in wonder, somehow feeling vulnerable and protected at the same time. His hand gravitated to the one on his shoulder, clutching it without thinking.

"I...I don't know how to tell you how honoured and grateful I am." The chuunin whispered.

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, you don't have to. It's my job to watch out for this village. I merely made a decision that was in the best interests of everyone."

Another thick silence elapsed as Iruka stared into Kakashi's eyes. Eyes that unabashedly pierced into his soul, with a fire that he had only ever seen from Kakashi on the battle field. Iruka had no idea what to think, what to expect. No one had taken notice of Iruka like this since Hiruzen. Although, Hiruzen never looked at Iruka the way Kakashi did. But to think...even for a second that he was interested, it was impossible...

"Iruka." Kakashi murmured.

"...Uh...yah?"

"I have a meeting."

"Oh!" Iruka started, and it was like snapping out of hypnosis. He suddenly realized how close they were standing, and this warmth...

Iruka froze. He turned completely white. When the HELL had he grabbed Kakashi's hand? He yanked his own appendage back and stared at Kakashi in horror. Why hadn't he said something? Why hadn't he taken his hand off his shoulder?

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't realize.."

Kakashi dropped his hand from Iruka's shoulder to the small of his back. He gently guided the chuunin forward, their eye contact never breaking. "If it was a problem I would have said something." Kakashi answered. They stood before the doors to his office, Kakashi's hand still on Iruka's back. The chuunin felt like his entire body was on fire. He wanted to kiss Kakashi so badly he nearly leaned forward on instinct.

"Kakashi..."

The doors were opened. Iruka felt the gentlest of pressures from the hand on his back, so he stepped through. Kakashi stayed in the doorway, smiling at Iruka pleasantly enough, but his eyes were telling a story Iruka didn't know how to decipher.

"Good luck tomorrow, Iruka-sensei. I plan on coming by the Academy in the next few days to see how things are progressing. But, if there's anything you need in the meantime, you know where to come to."

Iruka nodded, not trusting his voice. He smiled as brightly as he could, but there was something in him that was starting to feel bad. It was...confusion. He didn't understand Kakashi at all, or what any of this meant. As much as he wanted to just brush it all off as 'part of his personality', the common sense part of Iruka knew that wasn't true. This was a little bit much, even for Kakashi.

It was as if the new Hokage could sense Iruka's growing frustration. He gently placed his hand on his arm and squeezed.

"I'll see you soon, alright?"

"Sure." Iruka responded easily, before taking the few extra steps needed to enter into the hallway and leave Kakashi's side. He realized with horror that he'd just left the Hokage's office without paying the proper respects, _again_. But, the soft click of the door closing told him that Kakashi hadn't noticed. Or cared. Either one.

As Iruka headed back to his apartment, his mind was tormented with a whirlwind of thoughts. He was elated, absolutely elated about his new position. Nervous, definitely. But he felt like it was right and that he was going to love it. For that, he was truly grateful to Kakashi. The Hokage had recognized him for his talents and rewarded them.

But...

Whenever Iruka thought of Kakashi, his gut twisted painfully. Up until now he had merely excused what was obviously heavy flirting as just Kakashi 'being himself'. Looking back on their time together that day, Iruka couldn't excuse it anymore. Kakashi was openly hitting on him and there was no other way to look at it. He should have been happy, but instead it caused him pain. Whenever they would really seem to...connect, Kakashi would push him away. There was no denying it. Iruka wasn't sure if that meant Kakashi enjoyed flirting with him but had no intentions of ever pursuing anything more, or if he was keeping things 'friendly' for other reasons.

Of course, expecting anything from Kakashi at this point in his life was ludicrous. He had _just _become the Hokage _right_ after a massive world war. He was obviously going to be busy and have a lot on his mind. It was understandable. That wasn't what was hurting Iruka.

It was the second option. The idea that Kakashi enjoyed yanking Iruka around for his own satisfaction, without taking into account how it would make the chuunin feel. But...an assumption like that seemed unfair towards Kakashi. The Hokage had been nothing but incredibly kind, understanding and tender to Iruka. And generous. To make a new position and then put Iruka in it...

He scoffed, chiding himself. Wow. Just because he wanted Kakashi and the chances of getting him were slim didn't mean he had the right to get upset. The reason he had been drawn to Kakashi was the kindness in his eyes. If he really believed he was kind, he needed to trust him.

As soon as Iruka reached his apartment, he got to work on drafting the changes he wanted to make at the Academy.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As soon as Iruka arrived to class he was literally attacked by a mob of children.

"IRUKA-SENSEI! IRUKA-SENSEI!"

"I MISSED YOU!"

"YOU'RE LEAVING US?"

"DON'T LEAVE US WITH EBISU-SENSEI, IRUKA-SENSEI!"

"Wow, wow, children! Oww, Jubei, that's my hair. Okay, everyone _please_ settle down."

The poor chuunin was literally prying 11 year olds from his chest and legs, settling them down, only for another two to take their place.

"I'm not -OWW, Hiyata! Ugh, did someone drool on me...?"

After a very stressful ten minutes attempting to control the emotional crowd of children, Iruka finally managed to get them to sit down and stop freaking out by threatening to take away recess for a week. He stood, panting, adjusting his hair tie and vest while he looked down at them with barely suppressed anxiety.

"Wow. Class. I understand emotions are high, but we all need to keep our heads. Understand?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei..." Was bashfully murmured amongst the crowd.

"Great. So. To address the first issue; _no_, I am not leaving you. Not for a second."

Everyone cheered. Iruka waited patiently for them to settle down again before he continued. "Second. I have no idea how you all heard so quickly, but yes; I am now the Head Master of the academy. Nothing will change in this class, as I'm going to finish being your instructor this year. Well. We're not really sure what's going to happen next year, either. All the same, no one has to worry about anything. We wouldn't put you through such a big change when you have more important things to worry about."

"Like graduating..." One girl offered quietly.

Iruka smiled and ruffled her hair. "Yes. Like graduating. There's one more announcement I want to make. I'm going to be forming an after-school, ah...'sharing circle'. I want everyone who has any concerns about the infinite tsukuyomi to be able to talk about it if they need to. Does that sound appealing to anyone here?"

There was a tense silence where all the students looked around the small group to see if anyone was putting up their hand. The few students who already hesitatingly half-raised theirs slowly extended their arms. Soon, half the class had either fully raised their hands or were making shy little waves where they hoped only Iruka could see them. The chuunin smiled warmly.

"Alright. Now! Let's get back to work. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"AWWWW!"

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The students weren't really what you would call 'attentive', but Iruka was heart-warmed to see that they were paying as much attention as they could because they'd missed him. The chuunin really hoped the ones who needed help would show up to his 'sharing circle' after school. He hadn't wanted to call it counselling in case it scared the kids away.

During lunch period Iruka had a very intense meeting with the rest of the teachers. Kakashi had made the official announcement as he said he would, and most of the teachers were elated and congratulated Iruka with genuine excitement. However, it was too much to hope that that sentiment would be carried through by everyone. He saw some very bitter, jealous faces during their meeting that made him a little sad.

"I'm hoping we can all work together to get the children motivated again." Iruka announced to the faculty during their meeting. "I think speaking to the students about their concerns with the infinite tsukuyomi will help them get past whatever they're going through, but what does everyone else think?"

His friend and long-time work mate Suzume spoke up immediately. "I like it. I've been having _so_ many problems with my students, it's unbelievable. We have to do something or I'm going to lose my marbles!"

"I agree. Some of my students seem..._angry_. Like, they've just got all these pent up emotions. I thought being with their families would help, but a lot of the parents in our village are just too busy." A male teacher sighed, twirling his pen around nervously. "I think it really _is_ up to us."

"Frankly? I don't think it's any of our business." One teacher sneered. "We're supposed to be teaching them how to be ninja, not raising them."

Iruka was about to respond, but another teacher beat the chuunin to it.

"Fat lot of luck that'll do us when they won't listen. Seriously, you haven't noticed a difference in your kids?"

"I suppose so. But, if they don't work, they won't graduate. These are the future ninja of our village, we can't coddle them. That is not the ninja way."

"The ninja way is to watch out for one another." Iruka responded. He tried to keep his tone light, but there was a definite edge to it that made the board room go silent. "This is not a normal situation. A ninja is supposed to be adaptable; we need to adapt to this threat to our fellow villagers well being. Just because our students want to be ninja doesn't mean we have to ignore the fact that they're very young and very human."

The silence persisted. Many of the teachers nodded their heads in agreement, but some still seemed sceptical.

"My brother was fighting in the last Great War when he was twelve years old." One teacher commented, his eyes hard. "He had to suck it up and deal with it. You're telling me our kids can't even shake off a measly dream without needing their hands held the entire time?"

Iruka bowed his head, his eyes closed. "That was a different time. Hiruzen-sama _never_ would have put fresh chuunin and genin in a war if there had been a choice. But there hadn't been. I would have given my soul to be able to help my parents in the Kyuubi attack, and I hadn't even graduated from the academy yet. We can't treat the children of this generation as if they were living in the last. The reason we fight and bleed and die is for peace. Now that we have it, why do we need to act as if we don't?"

At the intense silence produced by his speech, Iruka decided he needed to take things down a level. "However. I understand peoples hesitance to get too 'involved' in our students personal affairs. So, my idea of balance is to hold only one of these counselings sessions and see how everyone feels about them. If we find they're effective, we can talk about having a few more. How does that sound?"

Iruka saw everyone around the table nod their heads. Some were a little more hesitant than others, but regardless, he had the go ahead from every teacher at the academy.

"Now..." Iruka laughed, scratching his scar. "Who wants to volunteer?"

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Iruka absently thought about all the other times in his life that he'd ever felt stressed and realized bleakly that he had no idea what stress was until now. He supposed it was good that only six children had broken down crying instead of all of them, but it didn't really make him feel that much better.

After their 'sharing circle', the chuunin felt some of the children had really benefited and would be alright on their own from that point forward. But, those were only the kids who hadn't had dead relatives come back to life or family members act completely different than how they actually were in reality. Those children would need constant support, and Iruka and the other teachers just couldn't give it to them. They needed their families to be completely aware of what was going on. Iruka's original idea of a parent-teacher meeting clearly needed to happen.

He couldn't have looked forward to anything less.

First of all, telling any parent how to raise their kid was a damn tricky business. Some parents were incredible human beings who deeply appreciated any information on their kids well being. Some were arrogant assholes who wouldn't hear anything that didn't mesh with their versions of reality. Most were a little something in between.

When Iruka finally got back to his house it was almost 9 o'lock at night. School ended at 3:30. The teachers had held a meeting after their respective sessions not only to detail the information they'd gleaned, but really, to council each other. A female teacher named Aiina had started bawling during their debrief. One of her students was an orphan who couldn't get over the fact that her parent's hadn't _actually_ come back to life. She seemed to be living in some kind of distorted reality where she expected her mom to pick her up from the orphanage at any second. Apparently she had been waiting ever since she woke up from the dream. It was just tragic.

Iruka dropped his bag outside of his front door as he fumbled with his keys. He couldn't wait to just flop down on his bed and-

"I...Iruka...?"

The chuunin turned in surprise. Standing just down the walkway from him was one of his fellow teachers, Imika. She looked terrible.

"What's wrong?" Iruka asked, slowly walking towards her.

"I...I'm not doing so well."

It really made Iruka question his humanity when his first instinct was to be frustrated at her answer. He was _exhausted_ and had just spent the entire day dealing with emotionally distraught children. He really didn't need this right now. But. She was his friend, and she'd come to him for help. He couldn't just send her away. Internally, he swore up a storm to release some tension before he smiled at her and extended his hand.

"It's alright. Come in, I'll make you something hot to drink. I don't know how much longer I can stay awake, but I'll try."

She smiled as brightly as one could when they were seconds away from crying and took his hand. He ushered her into his apartment, turned on the light and tossed his bag somewhere out of sight. "Just have a seat on my couch."

Iruka went to his kitchen and started throwing things together. He mostly just drank tea, which he thought would be good for calming ones nerves, but he always heard women talking about how much they liked chocolate. He had a package of instant hot-cocoa left over from one of his game nights with Naruto and decided to whip that up instead.

"Do you want to start telling me what's wrong?" He called from the kitchen as he busied around.

She seemed flustered as she toyed with the ends of her dress. "Well. It's...it's embarrassing. I know I'm supposed to be strong for the students, and I...want to be, you know? But I'm going through something too, and hearing the kids talk about_ their _feelings makes me think of mine as well..."

Iruka put the kettle on and braced himself against the counter. This conversation made him wonder how many other adults were suffering like he was, like Imika was.

"It's ok. Go on." He insisted as warmly as he could.

"It's just..." She sniffled, taking a deep breath. "I don't know if I can really talk about it when your so far away." She breathed with a laugh, rubbing at her eyes. Iruka turned to look at the kettle. It was boiling. He prepared their drinks as fast as he could and brought them over on a tray.

"Sorry about that. Here you are."

He offered her the hot chocolate and she took it. Their fingers brushed, and when he went to pull away, he felt her tighten her grip in an effort to keep him there.

"Ah...it's a little hot." Iruka stammered nervously. She laughed and let go, giving Iruka the opportunity to take a seat a little father from her than he had originally intended. He really hoped this wasn't heading where he feared it was.

"In my dream..." she started, sipping her hot chocolate and smiling at him when she approved of it. "..I was happily married. I was _so_ happy Iruka, it was unbelievable. My husband was everything I'd ever wanted in a man: Sweet, handsome, good with kids. And then...I woke up. And the reality is that I haven't even been on a date in years. My parents keep asking me what's wrong with me. I'm almost thirty and..."

She choked up, squeezing her eyes shut and biting her knuckles to keep from crying. Iruka looked on, understanding what she was going through completely but feeling uncomfortable in how to deal with her. He wanted to help, but he wanted to keep it professional, too, because there was something about this situation that made him think he was going to need to assert some kind of control very soon.

"...and...I'm just...I'm so lonely. No one wants me." She turned to him, twisting almost violently. "Help me, Iruka. I can't die alone!"

Well.

Iruka kept his face calm and serious as he spoke. "Imika. Believe me when I say that I understand how you feel completely-"

"-Then-"

"-Wait, please." Iruka interrupted, his voice firm. She stopped talking, but tears had started to spill from her wide eyes and the chuunin was worried things were only going to get worse. "You can't let that dream get to you like this. You are in control of your own life, not anyone else. There are a bunch of single teachers at the academy that you could try to get to know. Or, you could spend more time in the market, I hear the Tea Tent is a great place to mingle -"

"-YOU DON'T GET IT!" She screamed. Whipping her arm back, she flung her half finished mug of hot chocolate and it smashed against the wall across from them.

The two sat in stunned silence. Iruka stared at her. His eyes were wide and nervous, but his mouth was set and his jaw clenched. Imika looked like she was in shock. Slowly, she breathed deeply, fixed her skirt and smoothed out her hair.

"I'm sorry." She apologized, her voice edgy and shaky. "But you don't get it. Of course there are plenty of men in the village; of course. But they don't want me. _No one_ wants me, Iruka."

Slowly, she stood, turning her whole body to face him. Iruka sat on the couch as calmly as he could, but his entire body was tense and he was clenching his jaw so hard he could hear his teeth scraping against each other.

"Look at me. I have breasts, I have legs, I have hair." She tugged at her skirt, pulled her hair, pushed up her breasts as she spoke. "I don't understand. Am I ugly?"

"No."

"Am I repulsive? Do I smell?"

"Imika. Please, calm down."

"Make me calm down, Iruka. Make me feel better. Make me feel like a woman."

The chuunin's mouth snapped shut. He was in ninja mode, calmly assessing the situation as it unfolded. He could tell he needed to be exceedingly careful.

"What you're asking for is not going to make you feel better, Imika. Please calm down."

"YES IT IS! THAT'S ALL I WANT! Why don't you want me, Iruka!? I'm not good enough for you!? You think I'm hideous?"

She advanced on him, pulling at her hair and screaming. He leaped up off the couch, holding out his hands, backing up but moving in an arch in what he hoped was a bee-line for the front door. "You're not hideous, you know you're not. Don't let your dream get to you Imika, you see what it's doing to our students..."

"_Fuck_ our students! God damnit, they drive me crazy! What do they even have to worry about!? They have their entire lives ahead of them! I'm almost thirty and I'm single and alone and miserable!"

If Iruka was getting one positive thing from this terrifying experience, it was being proud of himself for not having totally gone off the deep end. Yes, he was also single with absolutely no prospects at the tender age of "almost thirty", but he still had enough sense to continue on with his life and make the best of everything. Clearly, Imika missed that memo.

They had walked around each other in a very tense, almost stand-offish circle that put Iruka closer and closer to his front door. He wanted them out of his apartment and out into the open where he could get some help. There was no way he was putting his hands on Imika in case she tried to tell the police he attacked her. He wouldn't put anything past the poor teacher right now.

"I'm sorry for that, Imika. But I can't help you."

"You can't even give me ONE night? ONE night to feel good about myself? I thought guys liked sex, I thought they didn't care where it came from!? I'm THAT disgusting, that I'm not even good enough for one lay?"

Finally Iruka was close enough to his door that he reached behind him and turned the handle...

"What are you doing...?" She asked, her voice cracking.

"I think we should take this outside...fresh air is good..." Iruka explained as he pushed the door open and took a back step outside.

She rushed him, pulling at her skirt. "You're running away!"

Run he did. He jumped back, taking three long strides into the walkway that lead to his apartment. He grasped the railing and looked over, desperate to see _anyone_ in the streets. It was nearly 10 o'clock at night, so they were empty, but it was a ninja village; there was always someone to help.

"Some assistance, please!" Iruka shouted into the air. A police officer had to be _somewhere._

"You think I'm crazy?" Imika screamed as she came sliding out of his front door. "That's why you don't want me?"

"Well, the way you're acting, what am I supposed to think?" The chuunin snapped. He was trying to be calm and understanding, but his characteristic temper was starting to flare up. "Just calm down. We're both Sensei, we're supposed to be role models. We're outside where everyone can hear you, have respect for yourself." His words were harsh but his voice was still soft. Iruka was hoping now that they were in public that she'd take it down a notch.

In the matter of about five seconds, Iruka witnessed Imiki completely unravel. Her eyes were angry, then they were crazed, then they were sad. She brought her fingers to her lips, chewed on them, then tugged at her hair again. Slowly, she sunk to the ground, as if she was melting. As her knees bent, she looked sadder and sadder, lifeless even. She hit the ground like a sack of bones and lay there, sobbing. Iruka watched in complete horror from his position with his back pressed up against the railing.

The sound of doors opening around his building almost made Iruka cry with relief. He heard people murmuring to themselves, shuffling. He heard footsteps approaching.

"What the heck is going on out here...?" A man exclaimed as he came around the corner of the building. He held up a badge to Iruka. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. "I'm an off duty police officer. Was it you who called for help?"

A loud wail sounded from the lump of flesh on the ground. The police officer looked at her, then looked back to Iruka. He raised a single eyebrow.

"Damn."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Once again, Iruka found himself in the Hokage's quarters. He was sitting on a long bench outside of the Hokage's Office as he waited for Kakashi.

He felt like a pile of shit.

Emotionally, he was completely fried. It made him almost hysterical with laughter that he'd thought dealing with sad children had been trying. Nothing would ever compare to an emotionally disturbed woman who refused to accept reality. Truthfully, he felt terrible for her. He understood the sadness of having felt what ideal happiness could have been like only for it to be snatched away. It was kind of funny, actually, that he had been suffering the same way as Imika. They probably could have helped each other out. Talked about it over tea, stuffed themselves with junk food. But, Imika was beyond that kind of help now. He hoped she'd be ok. She hadn't been a bad teacher at all, and now they would need extra help with her class.

He rubbed at his eyes. Iruka was thoroughly exhausted, but the incident had been reported and he needed to speak to the Hokage before he left the building. The idea of seeing Kakashi both elated him and terrified him. The thought of his comforting presence, warm voice and soothing intelligence was almost enough to make Iruka feel better. But...he didn't think he'd be able to handle their confusing flirtations that eventually lead to nowhere. He was too low.

Slowly, Iruka's eyes closed. Slowly, he sank down in his seat. The chuunin came to rest against the wall, his deep breathing signifying his sleeping state. His hands relaxed and the scroll he'd been given to bring to the Hokage slipped out and landed on the ground before him.

Ten minutes later, Kakashi quickly rounded the corner. He stopped immediately at the sight before him. Iruka, passed out in the hall, looking as rough as Kakashi imagined he'd be. Slowly, the Hokage stepped closer. There were dark rings around the chuunin's eyes and his brows were furrowed even in sleep. He looked like he'd been through another war.

Kakashi gently brushed a few stray strands of hair out of Iruka's face. The soft touch was enough to wake the chuunin. His eyes blinked open. He stared at Kakashi in surprise. The jounin made no effort to remove his hand from the side of his face.

"I can't imagine this is very comfortable." Kakashi chuckled. His eyes had nothing but affection in them as he gazed down at Iruka.

"I...I didn't realize..." Iruka tried to explain through a loud yawn. He made to get up, but Kakashi gently pushed down on his shoulders.

"It's alright. Don't move." He instructed quietly. Iruka did so, watching as Kakashi walked around him and sat by his side. The Hokage smiled warmly at Iruka, his eyes understanding. "It just hasn't been your week, has it?" Kakashi chuckled.

It only took a second for Iruka to burst out laughing. Tears stung at his eyes, but he wiped them away and just laughed. Kakashi laughed occasionally as well, watching Iruka loosen up with a satisfied expression.

"What...an understatement..." Iruka sighed, making one last scrub at his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Iruka. I know you must be stressed. It's a shame, because I heard you made some progress in class today."

"Oh?" Iruka asked, surprised. Who had he talked to?

"Mm. But, I can save that talk for later. I'm assuming that's your statement on the ground?"

Iruka turned bright red. "Oh. Yes...Sorry. It must have fallen when I passed out..."

Kakashi merely bent down and picked it up without another word. "It seems you're a magnet for people looking for comfort, Iruka. I suppose it makes sense. You always seem to make an extra effort to help others."

Kakashi unrolled Iruka's statement as the chuunin watched him with interest.

"But it's important to know when you need to ask for help yourself."

The silver haired Hokage turned to look back at Iruka then, his expression suddenly sombre. "So. Are you alright, Iruka?"

The chuunin instantly became conflicted. It was like he had a natural response to turn help away and handle everything himself. But, Kakashi was essentially daring him to. He knew he wasn't alright; but he wanted Iruka to say it, despite the fact that he was apparently programmed not to.

Kakashi continued to stare him down, his expression deceivingly neutral. Iruka's expression slowly degraded from tired, to torn, to barely holding on. He inhaled deeply, bit his lip, squeezed his eyes shut. He clenched his fists.

"...No. I'm not..." He sobbed. His hand flew to his eyes, trying to physically hold back tears. No damn way was he crying in front of Kakashi, but it seemed inevitable. Why did the other ninja have to show so much damn concern?

Iruka could feel something brushing against his hand. It gently took hold, pulling. Iruka let his hand be guided down, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see Kakashi gazing at him, his look just as smouldering as it was before. Iruka forgot about his frustrations as he became lost in that gaze.

Kakashi hooked a finger in his mask and pulled it down, never taking his eyes off of Iruka. His face was just as handsome as the chuunin imagined it would be. Iruka's heart skipped a beat when Kakashi closed the small gap between them and brought his face so close to Iruka's that their lips were hovering barely an inch apart. He paused, his eyes boring into the chuunin's. Iruka's were blown open, barely able to accept what was happening. He could tell, though, what Kakashi was waiting for. He closed his eyes and before he could move forward, Kakashi was kissing him.

Iruka moaned loudly and threw his arms around Kakashi's shoulders. Their kiss was instantly fast and deep, their mouths opening, bodies pressing together. The chuunin could barely breathe it was so intense, but he hardly cared. He barely had control of himself. Noises, background images, it was all gone. All he felt was heat, electricity, and Kakashi. He moaned again just at the thought of his Hokage. Kakashi laughed lightly against his mouth, his hands roaming up Iruka's back. The chuunin shivered as Kakashi dragged his fingers through his hair, pulling at his hair tie. The brief thought that they were technically in public entered Iruka's mind, but it evaporated instantly.

They pulled up and somehow Iruka ended up in Kakashi's lap, following his lips wherever they went. He gasped when their hips ground together, feeling Kakashi's burning erection pressing against his own. Iruka could hardly believe what was happening, he'd never felt so good in his life. It was exactly what he needed.

"Iruka." Kakashi gasped against his lips. The chuunin would have kept going, but there was something in Kakashi's tone that made him pull back just enough to see his face. The jounin's eyes were alight and he was smiling.

"Someone's coming."

Iruka blinked. "Oh..."

Oh right.

Suddenly, Iruka was yanked back down to reality. It must have shown on his face because Kakashi laughed out right and gently lifted Iruka off of his lap and onto the bench. The school teacher could now hear footsteps coming down the hall and, extremely embarrassed, he rushed to organize himself. He yanked out his hair tie and quickly redid his hair. His vest was a disaster, shirt untucked, oh shit...

"Yo." He heard Kakashi call.

Somehow, the copy-nin had put himself together in record time and had greeted their visitor before he rounded the corner. Iruka didn't want to think about how Kakashi was so good at that, he just took the opportunity to make himself presentable.

Hopefully his raging erection wasn't too noticeable.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Kakashi, Iruka and the shinobi responsible for petty crimes finished up their business in record time. Iruka wasn't really aiming to get Imiki locked away or anything, so there wasn't much dirty business to get to. Kakashi merely decided she was unfit to teach and sentenced her to six months of therapy, further sessions pending judging on what her psychiatrist prescribed. He was also sure to add in a clause that banned her from ever pursing Iruka, trying to talk to him or getting in contact with him in any way. The chuunin wondered how that would be possible if she ever returned to the Academy, but he wasn't about to complain. He never wanted that incident repeated again.

By the time they finished with all the legal business it was nearly midnight. Iruka was literally passing out where he stood. When the officer left, Kakashi placed a gentle but firm hand on the chuunin's shoulder and smiled at him. "Iruka. You need to go to sleep."

The chuunin blinked blearily. "...Yeah...I do..."

Kakashi hesitated just slightly, then seemed to say 'fuck it' and bent down to kiss Iruka on the forehead. The chuunin leaned into it, closing his eyes. Damn he was happy.

"I'll come and see how you're doing tomorrow." Kakashi murmured. He leaned back to look down at Iruka again, who was smiling up at him with an endearingly dopy smile.

"M'kay."

Kakashi laughed "Try not to fall on your way back. We're already down one teacher."

Iruna shot him a sassy look, but it had no bite to it at all. The chuunin actually really wanted to talk to Kakashi, to see how he felt, but he was exhausted. A serious conversation wasn't such a hot idea right now. Even knowing that, Iruka found it difficult to leave. He assumed he would have moved towards the door ages ago, but his feet stayed locked in place.

Kakashi noticed his hesitance with a grin. He reached forward, grabbed the front of Iruka's vest, and gently pulled him in for a goodbye kiss. They both seemed to melt into each other. The kiss was soft and drawn out, and by the time they pulled apart, Iruka wondered if he'd actually be able to make it home without wiping out. The strength of his legs was questionable.

"Goodnight, Kakashi." The chuunin whispered.

"Goodnight, Iruka. I'll see you as soon as I can." Kakashi answered with a warm smile.

Finally, Iruka was able to leave. As he headed home, he tried to figure out how his night could have gone from nightmarish to dreamlike in the span of a couple of hours. He felt like he needed to slap himself to make sure he still wasn't sleeping in the hallway. But, time would tell. He still needed to talk to Kakashi.

Surely, tonight his dreams would be filled with sweet things, instead of random hands he had no power to fight off.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

HOPE YA'LL LIKED!


	3. Chapter 3

Iruka woke the next morning feeling better than he had in a long time. He tried not to think about why as he brushed his teeth and got ready for work, but it was hard not to. The chuunin still wasn't quite sure what Kakashi was feeling, or wanted, so he didn't want to get his hopes up. But...kissing him had almost literally felt like the stars aligning. It was hard to tell if that wasn't just his heart exploding in his chest, but he supposed time would settle that dispute.

When he got to work, a class full of eager children awaited him. Iruka blinked rapidly as he stood at his desk, watching his class watch him in return. They looked _almost_ as they had before the war. Slightly restless, some of them potentially plotting murder, but mostly innocent and excited. Iruka didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it seemed like their 'sharing circle' had really helped. Maybe just the idea that there was someone to talk to was enough for the students.

"Ah...great to see you, class. You all look well!"

Various forms of agreement were shouted at him at varying levels of 'indoor voices'. Iruka laughed, cracking open his bag and pulling out his lessons for the day.

"It's good to see, because we have a lot to do today. I hope you all didn't think you'd get away with missing..."

Iruka yanked out a giant stack of paper.

"...physics quiz number three, did you?"

A wave of horror washed through the crowd of children.

"IRUKKAAAA-SENSEEEIIII!"

He laughed as he always did when his students looked like they were in pain. Iruka would admit to anyone who asked that he tortured them a little sometimes. Pay back was good for his sanity.

"Don't worry. I'm saving it for the end of the week. Right now, we really need to get caught up on chakra focus. I certainly hope you didn't forget your text books."

To his delight, the vast majority of his class happily held their books aloft. Only a few children looked embarrassed with a helpless shrug.

"Excellent! We're off to a great start today. Rumi, Keeko, Niina, please share your textbooks with your partners." Iruka spun to face the board, his good mood from the morning increasing dramatically. He drew something quickly with white chalk.

"Now..._.this_ is a chakra point..."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The lunch staff meeting went just as well as his first period of class had. All the teachers noticed significant improvements in the attitudes of their children. There were still some tough cases where the students had had a much more traumatic experience than the rest of their class, but for the most part, they were all elated that things had gotten better.

"I would be more than happy to stay after school with her." One of the teachers, Onoki, offered. "It's really just her who is still lagging behind, and I already know what she's upset about. I think she just needs to talk it out a little more, on her own where others can't hear."

"Thank you for your efforts, Onoki. I'll also be staying behind with a couple of my students. It seems they need a little bit more help in their classes, too, so I'll be tutoring as well." Iruka looked down at his list of 'to do's' and jabbed his finger at an item he'd forgotten. "That reminds me. This is something I've wanted to bring up for a while..." Iruka started. He smiled to himself, remembering his favourite special case, the one who had brought this issue to his attention. "I want to start a kind of tutoring service. I know this isn't usually how we do things, but I want to use Naruto as an example. He was a _terrible_ student. Well, I hardly think I need to go into details -we all remember."

The faculty nodded. Some groaned.

"But look at him now. All he needed was a little extra time, and a lot of extra affection. There's a very big possibility that some of our 'bottom' students could be little Naruto's. A ninja who could be so much more with just a little bit of effort. Not only do we owe it to the students, but we owe it to our village as well to make sure we aren't missing out on talent."

Iruka paused to gauge the interest level of the teachers. The vast majority of them seemed intrigued, with only a couple looking like they had serious gripes with his plan.

"I wanted to bring the motion to Kakashi-sama to see if he could possibly fund the hours each teacher puts into it, if we agree to do it. This way, the students get extra care, and a teacher has a chance to make a little extra money."

Now_ that_ got their attention. Everyone perked up instantly.

"Wow, you really think we could actually get paid?"

"I can't say for certain, especially with the war and repair costs. But...it wouldn't be too much of an extra expense, and Kakashi has already shown such concern for the students welfare."

Chatter erupted from the table. Iruka let them talk it out patiently, though he could tell they were interested. That worried him a little, since it was obviously the idea of extra money that motivated them, and he wasn't sure if he could get it.

"Alright!" A teacher near the end of the table exclaimed. "We'll get on board. Let us know what Kakashi-sama says about the pay. I sure could use a few extra bucks; my son eats like an animal!"

Laughter accompanied the teachers comment, and for the rest of the lunch period, everyone was in a much brighter mood. Iruka hoped he could keep it that way.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A loud sigh escaped Iruka's lips as he sunk down onto his couch. He'd gotten take-out dinner yet again due to his ridiculously late arrival from school. Thankfully, his higher position had resulted in higher pay. It wasn't anything crazy, but it definitely made his life a little more comfortable. Kakashi really was too good to him.

Thinking about the jounin brought butterflies to Iruka's stomach. He had tried not to think about him incessantly all day, but it had been extremely difficult not to. Iruka wanted to see Kakashi again very badly, but both of them were busy. Kakashi had promised to come and see Iruka, but that didn't mean it was going to be right away. The Hokage obviously had a lot of things to do. Although...Iruka _did _need to speak to him soon regarding the tutoring sessions.

Iruka's heart nearly stopped when a knock sounded at his door. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but the last thing he wanted to do was answer it. If he hadn't been expecting Kakashi, he wouldn't have. Slowly he stood and padded over to the looming wooden object, taking another deep breath.

"Who is it?"

"Iruka-sensei!"

The chuunin nearly passed out from relief as he unlocked his door. It wasn't Kakashi, but it was definitely just as good.

"Naruto. What brings you here?" Iruka greeted warmly as the blond was revealed.

"I heard what happened." The young ninja answered, his tone far more serious than it normally was. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Iruka laughed lightly and stepped aside for Naruto to enter. The blond did, but stopped not far from the chuunin, crossing his arms and regarding him with obvious concern.

"It isn't that I didn't tell you, Naruto. I haven't really had a moment to myself, let alone to find you and give you gruesome news." The chuunin laughed again to try and relieve his concerned friend, but Naruto continued to stare him down with a searching gaze. The blond stepped forward, his mouth in a hard line, looking Iruka up and down. He stared right into his eyes. He scratched his chin.

"Huh. Well. You seem to be fine." He concluded. Suddenly, his seriousness melted. A large, toothy grin replaced his frown and he threw his hands behind his head. "Heh heh heh...I just worry about you, you know. I'm here for you too, if you ever need anything."

The young ninja suddenly looked serious again, but it was laced with compassion. "Promise me you'll come to me when you need it, Iruka-sensei. You always try and take care of everything yourself."

Iruka felt his throat constrict just slightly. For Kakashi and Naruto to say the same thing to him in such a short time; it was obviously a legitimate issue. Iruka had no idea he was one of "those people" who could never ask for help, but when he thought about it, it made sense. He was just so used to taking care of his students, he didn't really think about himself. He smiled, bright and warm and genuine, and stepped up to Naruto. The two scooped each other up into a tight hug. Iruka couldn't stop smiling; it was so wonderful to have Naruto around. Someone who was basically family to him, who would love him no matter what.

"Thank you, Naruto. I promise."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Papers were Iruka's pillow as he snoozed on his marking table. The poor chuunin had intended to get some solid work done that night, but he'd just gotten such poor sleep over the last two weeks that he stood no chance. He'd already been asleep for a couple of hours before a shadow glided through his window.

It was so unearthly quiet, it hardly even stirred the air in Iruka's apartment. The chuunin slept soundly on, completely oblivious. The mysterious visitor paused beside Iruka, seeming to consider him as he slept. There was a very cold cup of tea next to him that that indicated he'd been asleep for a while. Slowly, a hand extended towards the sleeping school teacher.

Iruka yelped and jumped up, nearly throwing his table over. He panted and stared at the person who had jerked him from his sleep.

Kakashi seemed to be blushing with embarrassment.

"Somehow I thought this would be a better way to approach you than using the door."

Iruka was clutching his heart as he attempted to smile at the Hokage. "Ah...it...was certainly more direct."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Maa...I was afraid you wouldn't answer the door. Not that I'd blame you."

Iruka stood from his splayed position on the couch and smiled reassuringly. "Honestly, you're right. The only reason I've been answering it at all is because I was expecting you."

"Oh." Kakashi exclaimed, as if he'd forgotten he even told Iruka he was coming. "Sorry I'm so late. Lots of things to do in the office. Someone tried to make babies with the memorial stone today...seems the entire village is a little off."

Iruka blinked. "Someone...tried to have sex with the memorial stone?"

Kakashi tutted and crossed his arms. "Well, I was _trying_ to keep my explanation PG-13..."

"How...was it a woman?"

"Nope."

"...Then how..."

"It's best not to think about it, Sensei."

Iruka laughed, choosing to take Kakashi's advice. With how things had been going recently there was a good chance Iruka really didn't want to know. "Alright. Oh! Would you like something to drink?"

"Nah." Kakashi answered casually. He flopped onto Iruka's sofa like he visited all the time, resting his arms behind him on the back of the couch. He looked like a splayed cat, utterly relaxed, but still sharp as a tack. Iruka didn't think he was ever an overly sexual person, but the urge to leap onto Kakashi was so great that he had to start organizing his school work to give his hands something to do.

"That reminds me...there's something I want to ask you."

Kakashi's eyebrows flew up. "This has something to do with sex and rocks?"

Iruka stared at him in total confusion before he put the pieces together and laughed with a slight blush. "No, no...actually, it has to do with school-"

"-...molesting rocks reminds you of children?"

Iruka stood straight and put his hands on his hips, shooting Kakashi one of his best 'shut up, teacher is talking' scalding looks. Kakashi grinned and waved for Iruka to continue.

"..._As_ I was saying. I had a meeting with the teachers, and they're all on board. I wanted to kind of...start a sort of tutoring service. I always thought about it, but our system is just so...rigid that I never thought it would be a possibility. Naruto is just such an excellent example, but think about all the students who are considered 'no talents' or 'bottom of their class' who may just need a bit of extra time and care. Actually, even Lee is a great example. The teachers told me how much he struggled, and if it wasn't for Gai, I'm not sure what would have happened to him. I don't see a point in that ever happening if we can help it..."

Iruka trailed off then, looking extremely bashful. He hated asking Kakashi for money, especially just after he'd been promoted and given a raise. He didn't want the copy-nin to think he was trying to take advantage of their...friendship. But, this was something he was passionate about, so he had to do it.

"...I was...hoping we'd be able to pay the teachers. This way, it's a chance for a student to get extra help, and for a teacher to make a little bit of extra money. I was wondering if there's any way that could be possible?"

Iruka bit his lip and watched Kakashi nervously for his reaction. To his delight, Kakashi was smiling up at him brightly. He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands as he thought. "Well. I think that's a great idea. Even Gai had a very hard time getting into the academy when he was young, and he's one of the best shinobi I've ever known. As for the pay, I think it should be possible. We just have to set an amount of hours that can be billed so we can calculate a budget for it. I'll speak to Shizune; she deals with this sort of thing. I don't think it will be much of an extra expense, though."

Iruka stared in shock, his eyes wide and his hands wrung together. "_Really_?"

Kakashi laughed. "Yes, really. I like it."

The chuunin thought he was going to pass out, he was so happy. He couldn't even recall how many years he desperately wished they would just tutor the poor kids who couldn't seem to keep up. But it was "against the ninja system" and they didn't want the rookies to "be too soft". In Iruka's humble opinion, there were many ways the Academy tried to prepare their students for the real world. Actually, the thing that did that for them was training with their jounin and being full-fledged genin. Why not treat the poor kids with love while they were still children?

"Thank you so much, Kakashi. I'm so excited. I'll draft up a budget right away. Thank you!"

The way Kakashi was looking at Iruka, he seemed to be just as happy. The chuunin thought about how happy _he_ would be to see Kakashi's eyes that warm every day.

"I'm very pleased to see how seriously you're taking your new position, Iruka."

"I love it." The school teacher breathed. "I realize it hasn't even been a week, but I feel like I can really make a difference. I'm so grateful to you for this opportunity."

The air around Kakashi seemed to change. It made the general atmosphere in the room feel thicker, heavier. Iruka's heart was already pounding in his chest, and now he felt his knees start to weaken. It was honestly a feat that he managed to have real conversations with Kakashi, the jounin affected him so.

"Why don't you come sit with me, Iruka? It's hard to have a conversation when you're so far away."

Iruka could feel himself heating up already. He smiled and slowly sat beside Kakashi, suddenly excruciatingly nervous. One of the arms Kakashi had rested over the couch dropped down to land around Iruka's shoulders.

"I think I'm starting to understand why you've been attracting so much negative attention." Kakashi started, his eyes shamelessly boring into Iruka's. The chuunin was utterly captivated, but also curious and a little nervous. He had been wondering the same thing himself, and was slightly worried Kakashi was going to say something negative.

"...And, why is that...? I'd like to make it stop."

"Oh, you can't." The jounin countered with a wolfish grin. "It's inherently a part of who you are. Iruka, you constantly give off an aura that makes anyone around you feel like they're at home. When you smile at them, it makes them feel like they can trust you. And when you reach out to them, your warmth is so addictive it makes them feel like they can be healed. You're that person who can help anyone, no matter who they are. And unfortunately and fortunately for you, it isn't something you can turn off. It's noticeable almost immediately. You practically smell like compassion."

Iruka stared at Kakashi with his mouth forming an adorable little 'o'. No one had ever complemented him so thoroughly. He had no idea Kakashi thought so highly of him. Was he really...was his warmth 'addictive?'. He hadn't thought he was _that_ great at helping people, just sort of average. Make people feel like they were at home...did he make Kakashi feel that way, too? He hoped so. Because the more time he spent with Kakashi, the less he could stand to be apart from him.

"You..." He breathed, at a complete loss for words. "...I...Kakashi..."

"What?" The other ninja purred as he leaned in, pulling his arm around Iruka tighter. His voice was sultry, but his eyes, his eyes were intense and demanding. "What is it? Say it."

Iruka nearly gasped as a pulsing pleasure began to pool in his groin. He supposed he should be slightly ashamed that Kakashi's order had turned him on, but he definitely didn't care. There was something about the older ninja that made Iruka want to abandon all of his dignity. He found he couldn't answer, because there wasn't really anything he wanted to say. What he wanted to do was kiss him, so he did. His eyes hardened, he ripped down Kakashi's mask without bothering to ask for permission, and kissed him. It seemed that was what Kakashi wanted, because his kiss was answered instantly.

Iruka barely held back a moan as their bodies gently came together, Kakashi's fingers pressing into the small of his back and pushing him closer. Their kiss was heated, but slower than the one they'd shared the other night. There was no rush, no one to interrupt them. Iruka hesitatingly combed his fingers through Kakashi's hair, loving its softness despite its tendency to stick out wherever it pleased. It seemed an awful lot like Kakashi himself; appearing to be sharp but actually quite tender.

They slowly pulled apart, Iruka glancing down at their laps from a sudden shyness that overtook him.

"I really like you." Iruka blurted out. He looked up at Kakashi with wide eyes, but the Hokage's smile told him his worry was for naught.

"I like you too, Iruka." Kakashi murmured. Their foreheads rested together, the two unwinding in each others warmth. "I always thought you were cute. But lately, I've gotten to know you a lot better. I had no idea what I was missing out on." Kakashi finished with a a large, affectionate smile. It startled Iruka how beautiful Kakashi was when he smiled. It was sad that the whole world missed it because of that infuriating mask. But, he supposed it just made seeing it that much more special.

"Kakashi...I...don't understand what happened, really. I didn't even realize I was, uh. Well. That I preferred men, until I started seeing you more. I'm sure you hear this all the time, but you're an incredible person. I'm so glad you got to be Hokage, because I can already tell you're going to be wonderful for this village."

Kakashi's eyes danced as he listened to the chuunin, making it incredibly difficult for the younger ninja to concentrate. There was always something mischievous about Kakashi, even in such an intimate situation.

"I'm very flattered to know that I flipped you over to the other side."

Iruka's entire face lit up. "Well...I mean...I don't know..."

Kakashi laughed and Iruka turned even more red. He coughed once before explaining himself. "I should have known, really. In my dream..." he stopped suddenly, realizing he was about to divulge something he never had any intentions of sharing with anyone. Kakashi seemed to realize this. His expression went somber, but warm and understanding. He seemed to coax Iruka to continue with his eyes, and the chuunin couldn't resist. There was probably a very big part of him that was desperate to talk about it.

"In my dream...well, my parents were alive." iruka's voice softened and he glanced down at his hands. "They were really alive, Kakashi. It was so real. It was like they'd never died. They had aged; they looked like they would if they were alive now...I really believed it."

Iruka felt a gentle warmth on his knee and glanced over. Kakashi had ever so lightly rested his hand there, his eyes never moving from Iruka's. The chuunin smiled and continued.

"Anyway. I was visiting them with my...'spouse', but the entire dream, I never got a look at who it was I was married to. I had a child, but he looked nothing like me. I knew in the dream that he was adopted, but why would I do that if I was married to a woman? Not to mention other things, like the fact that I had to lean up to kiss whoever it was, or that I felt strong hands instead of delicate ones. It was like...I always knew my dream was to have a family, but I suppose I never understood who I wanted to have it with."

There was silence for a moment after Iruka had finished speaking. He suddenly felt embarrassed, concerned he'd said too much. He and Kakashi weren't THAT close, after all. Their relationship was really only just beginn-

"-That sounds a lot like what my dream would have been like." Kakashi interrupted warmly. Iruka looked to him with joy, the two of them sharing a smile. "My father would have been there, and my mother. My team, too. I never thought about a family before because I could never get over the past enough to think about the future. But, now, there would be one. I think I would want a son, maybe just so I could give him a better childhood than I had."

Kakashi pondered with a smile still on his face, as if he was having fun thinking about his 'ideal life'. "I think I would actually prefer if my son looked nothing like me. I don't know if I could have a little version of me or my father running around."

Iruka was listening so intently he was sure he had a ridiculous look on his face. Kakashi was such a private person, he couldn't believe he was telling him any of this. The comment about not being able to handle a child looking like him or his father tugged at Iruka's heart, but it seemed far too personal for them to discuss at this point, so he skipped it. "Are you...I mean...would you think about marrying a man? If that's even possible. I've never heard of it happening before."

"Never thought about it." Kakashi answered casually. "But, there was one male couple in ANBU. They were married in their hearts, certainly. It didn't seem like they cared about 'legally' getting married, although that may have also been because of the danger levels of ANBU. You never know what can happen."

Iruka smiled, loving the idea of being 'married in your heart'.

"...Also. Kotetsu and Izumo are _definitely_ banging each other. You could probably just ask them."

The chuunin's jaw dropped and his entire head turned tomato red.

"W-w-wow! What?"

Kakashi shot him a look. "Come on. It's obvious."

"I...I didn't find it so obvious." Iruka stammered.

Another wolfish grin found its way onto Kakashi's face. "That's not really surprising."

"...Hey..."

Kakashi laughed, leaning back and throwing an arm over the couch again. "Don't worry. I find it very endearing."

The chuunin crossed his arms defensively. "What's endearing? Don't insinuate that I'm clueless."

Kakashi merely grinned. Iruka huffed.

"I am not."

"Alright..." Kakashi began, obviously enjoying himself thoroughly. "How about Anko?"

Iruka blinked. "What about her...?"

"You don't notice that she makes it a point to stare at your ass whenever you're around?"

Iruka practically sputtered. "Wait, what?"

"See." Kakashi teased. "Everyone else knows that."

It looked like Iruka's head was about to explode. He was starting to think Kakashi wasn't totally baseless in his 'clueless' accusations.

"Actually..." The Hokage continued, not bothering to hide how much he was enjoying himself. "Your ass is a conversation starter in the mission room more often than not. Kotetsu and Izumo take turns bringing it up. It should flatter you to know that everyone unanimously agrees that it is very nice."

The urge to turn around and stare at his apparently magnificent behind was so strong Iruka barely held himself back. But, there was something about the way Kakashi was leaning in that told the chuunin he was expecting him to do it. And if he did, he'd _never live it down_.

Urge; resisted.

"Alright. I'm oblivious. For starters...I mean...I'm just as fit as the next shinobi, but...it just looks like a regular butt to me." Iruka offered with obvious confusion.

Kakashi practically cackled his grin was so wicked. "It's not just that it's perky, Iruka. It has fantastic shape to it. Also, we all agree; quite round for a man."

"Okay." Iruka cut in. There was practically steam coming out of his ears. "I accept. Thanks...I think."

There seemed to be a bit of satisfaction ringing Kakashi's eyes that Iruka wanted to wipe off as viciously as possible. "I suppose you are well aware of the actual, real life _Kakashi's Kunochi's_ fanclub at the other end of the village, then?"

Kakashi sighed. "Yes. I know it exists. They send me presents on my birthday every year, as well as pictures of every single one of them naked."

Iruka leaned back, his jaw hanging loose from his face. "Wow. I...assumed they were more subtle than that."

"Nope."

"Huh."

"Also, I've gotten letters from every single one of them detailing their infinite tsukuyomi dreams about me. How it 'must be fate' and that 'we were so happy together' and lets 'just go ahead and get married now.' It's really a little ridiculous. I have to get Shizune to read the letters, I just don't have time anymore."

This was starting to get a little sad. Iruka frowned, feeling sorry for Kakashi. That was a lot of negative energy thrown at him, when Iruka had merely had one incident with one woman. "I'm sorry, Kakashi. I...feel a little childish for being so upset about only one woman approaching me."

"Hey." Kakashi started, his expression serious. "Don't do that. It's easy for me to ignore a letter or fifty, while it is much more difficult to pretend a woman doesn't exist when she's screaming and crying at you in your apartment. It's not the same."

Iruka smiled and glanced down. "Thanks..."

"Although..." Kakashi sighed dramatically, looking to the sky as if only the heavens could understand his pain. "I did get a lot of attitude from the mail man. It made his job a lot harder, as you can imagine. He used to just stuff all the letters into my tiny mailbox and leave them crumpled and strewn about everywhere. Honestly, half the time I couldn't read what the letters said because they were so chewed up. I went through a new mailbox every year."

Iruka laughed lightly, very much enjoying Kakashi's sense of humour. "You poor thing."

"Yes. I was a victim." Kakashi sunk down lower in on the couch, looking distraught. "It's difficult, you know. To be wanted like this. Just so difficult."

"Horrible." Iruka chuckled. There was something about the way Kakashi lay on the sofa that made him want to crawl over to him. He realized with a start; why not? Kakashi had told him he was attracted to him. Slowly, Iruka put hand over hand, inching his way to Kakashi until he was leaning over him.

"Maybe you should try to be less magnetic." The chuunin breathed. Their eyes were locked in a heated stare.

"Who says I'm magnetic?" Kakashi murmured.

Iruka bent down and put a soft, lingering kiss on the side of Kakashi's mouth. When he pulled back, Kakashi had that smouldering look in his eye that made the little hairs on the back of Iruka's neck stand up.

"You're...the most sensual person I've ever met." Iruka answered softly.

Kakashi leaned forward slightly, his intensity increasing. "Do you want me?"

The chuunin had to swallow thickly before he was able to answer. "Yes."

Iruka was on his back without even realizing he'd been moved. Kakashi straddled him and pushed his shirt up, kissing his lips and running his hands over his chest. A low moan rumbled in Iruka's throat and his back arched enough to push his hips into Kakashi's. Their tongues fought with each other as they ripped at clothing. Iruka lifted his arms and his shirt was gone in an instant. He felt callused fingers that belonged to an exceedingly powerful person twist electric circles over his bare skin and he shivered with pleasure. Iruka pushed Kakashi's shirt up, feeling his soft skin and muscular abdomen, and wanted so badly to touch him all over. But Kakashi wouldn't move his arms from Iruka, so there was no way to get his shirt off.

"Kakashi-" Iruka gasped, trying to get his attention. It felt like Kakashi grinned against Iruka's mouth before he broke their kiss and transferred his lips to the chuunin's neck. Iruka wrapped his legs around Kakashi's waist as his Hokage trailed slow, lingering kisses down his throat. The chuunin dragged his fingers along the muscle of Kakashi's shoulder blades, his sides, his shoulders. He wanted to feel the other ninja's bare skin against his so badly. The kisses were making him so hot his back was arching off the couch. He couldn't believe Kakashi was touching him, kissing him...

Suddenly, Kakashi leaned back and swung his legs over the couch, his hands under Iruka's thighs. As he stood, he pulled the chuunin up with him, so Iruka was straddling him as Kakashi strode out of his living room. He was tossed onto his bed with Kakashi climbing on top of him as soon as he'd hit the mattress. Again, Iruka tried to take Kakashi's shirt off, but with an impish grin Kakashi refused to cooperate. Iruka looked adorably confused from his position underneath Kakashi. The Hokage dripped down and placed a chaste kiss on the chuunin's lips.

"I'm going to make love to you. Is that alright?"

Iruka's brain completely sputtered out, but he didn't really need it to answer.

"Absolutely." He breathed without hesitance. Iruka had never slept with a man before, and he hadn't really heard about men...sleeping with other men, so he wasn't entirely sure what constituted as 'making love' when vagina's weren't involved, but it seemed like Kakashi knew what he was doing.

Except for the 'getting naked' part. He seemed to be forgetting about that.

Iruka reached up and tried to tug at Kakashi's shirt again, but the other ninja was preoccupied with dragging Iruka's pants off one leg at a time. Excitement singed the chuunin's nerves as he slowly lifted his hips and allowed his pants to slide off of his body. The two gazed at each other, Kakashi's look scalding hot, but there was a wonderful soft affection mixed in there as well. It was that softness that told you to trust Kakashi. It showed you he had a heart, and used it frequently. Iruka had never seen Kakashi so open before and he loved every second of it.

They kissed again as Kakashi lowered himself. He pressed against Iruka, still in his full jounin uniform, the fabric of his clothes scraping against the chuunin's bare skin. It made Iruka feel dominated. If this was what Kakashi was going for, it was working. Iruka knew there was a beautiful body under Kakashi's clothes and it was driving him crazy that he couldn't touch it.

"Kakashi...why aren't you getting undressed?" Iruka asked against his lips.

Their kiss was gently broken so Kakashi could look into his eyes. Iruka was not surprised to find the usual mischievous twinkle firmly in place.

"What's the rush?"

Iruka shot him a look. "Ummm..." and then threw his arms open wide, glancing down at himself. "You aren't going to join me?"

The mirth slowly drained from Kakashi's eyes. There was sadness there now, and perhaps a little bit of fear. He seemed like he was trying to shift the mood into something humours, but Iruka was starting to see that there was actually nothing funny about it.

"I...already feel quite naked, Iruka." Kakashi explained with obvious hesitance.

"Kakashi..."

Iruka shot up, his features concerned. "We don't have to do this. I mean..." He laughed nervously, scratching his nose. "This is...I don't usually sleep with someone this fast. I'm just really attracted to you. Really, really..."

Iruka descended into utter bashfulness as he slowly scratched a his nose. It brought a warm smile to Kakashi's face. He reached out and grasped Iruka's hand, pulling it from his face and pressing it against his chest.

"I want you, Iruka. It just...has to be like this, for now. If that's alright."

Iruka smiled brightly. "Of course. Whatever makes you comfort-Haa!"

Kakashi hadn't even waited for Iruka to finish talking before sticking his hands in the chuunin's underwear and grasping his erection. Their kiss was resumed as Kakashi stroked him. He played with the head of his penis, twisted his hand around his length. Iruka had to fight the urge to buck his hips into his hands.

"Kakashi..." Iruka moaned against his lips, his hands roaming the Hokage's clothed back.

Iruka suddenly found his arms Kakashi-less as the other ninja broke their kiss to trail his lips down the chuunin's chest. He panted and arched slightly, his eyes closing as little bursts of heat made their way lower and lower. When Kakashi's mouth closed over his erection he gasped loudly and gripped the headboard behind him.

"Oh..."

A tongue swirled around the head of his penis, lapped at his slit. Iruka bit his lip in an attempt to not embarrass himself. He already felt his abdomen tightening, his limbs starting to go numb. It had been such a long time since he'd been intimate with someone and he hadn't enjoyed it nearly this much. Warm, wet, tight; the feeling slid down his length, sucked hard and pulled back up. Iruka hissed and his back arched higher.

"Haaa..._Kakashi_..."

Iruka felt fingers gently circling his entrance as Kakashi tasted him. His instinct was to ask about it, but thoughts escaped him when he felt his Hokage flick his tongue over his balls. Iruka sighed and his head fell back, his grip on the headboard tightening. The tongue dragged up his balls, along his length, and around the head of his penis before lips gently sucked on his tip.

"Ahh! Haa, Kakashi, how..." Iruka panted, his legs splayed wide open as his back continued to arch. He merely heard a soft chuckle in response. Fingers returned to his entrance, but they were slick with something and kind of cold. Iruka opened his eyes and looked down. Kakashi was looking back up at him.

"I was just seeing how ready you are. You're nice and relaxed."

It dawned on Iruka exactly what Kakashi was referring to as 'ready' and his eyes widened in surprise. Oh. So...that's how things were done. Well. It made sense...

"Okay..." The chuunin whispered.

Kakashi chuckled and leaned forward to kiss Iruka on the cheek. "Trust me. And keep relaxing, it'll make things easier. I'll go nice and slow."

It seemed like Kakashi really knew what he was doing with this whole 'man sex' thing, and it made Iruka extremely curious as to how that was possible.

Fingers slowly pressed inside of him, eradicating all other thoughts from Iruka's mind. Instantly, he tightened to the point where Kakashi's fingers were stilled. Iruka shifted, gripped the headboard tighter, and took a deep breath. It was an incredibly alien feeling at first, so his initial experience was one of discomfort. But...it only took a few seconds for his muscles to relax, and a new kind of pleasure started to pool in his groin. His body instantly knew what this meant. It knew what was to come, even if Iruka didn't. And suddenly he wanted it. He wanted Kakashi's fingers in him; deep in him, totally filling him.

Iruka gently bucked his hips into Kakashi's hand. His Hokage's eyes seemed to dance with understanding. The fingers moved farther into Iruka, who opened his legs wide and let his head fall back. Slowly, Iruka felt them slide out and then slowly push back in. His body knew what the movements meant and his legs shook slightly in anticipation. A deep, biting want was accumulating in is brain. Again Kakashi pulled his fingers out and pushed them back in, his finger tips seeming to prod inside of him for something. Sharp, white-hot pleasure shot up Iruka's spine and he shouted out a moan.

"AHH! Kakashi, please...Oh..."

"You're ready?" Kakashi whispered into his ear, the voice hot and hitching.

"Yes. Oh. Please..."

The absence of warmth inside of Iruka almost made him keen. He wanted Kakashi so badly he could hardly think straight. He felt like he would completely unravel if he didn't have him. God, he wanted him.

"Remember to relax." Kakashi whispered against the side of his face. He was above Iruka, covering him. Instantly the chuunin's arms flew around his back, gripping him tightly. Something pressed against his entrance again. It slipped inside, wider than the fingers had been. Everything in him knew what it was and he could feel his body desperately accepting it. Despite the slight discomfort, the adjustment his body needed to physically go through to fit Kakashi, Iruka had to swallow a cry of pleasure when he was completely filled by him. God, he wanted him. He wanted to scream.

Kakashi's breath was becoming ragged, the muscles on his back clenched under Iruka's hands. Slowly Kakashi entered Iruka again, filled him to the hilt, and pulled out. Iruka dug his fingers into Kakashi's back and the copy-nin became slightly concerned.

"How do you feel?"

"Great." Iruka panted. "It's fine. I want more."

Kakashi smiled to himself and gripped Iruka's thighs, hoisting his hips up and angling them against the bed. He slid in again, slightly faster this time. Kakashi rolled his hips, rocking into Iruka, pushing in and slipping out in a gentle, steady rhythm. Iruka dug his nails into Kakashi's back, clenching tight around him. His entire body was buzzing, an intense, blinding pleasure mounting in his abdomen. Iruka pushed his face into Kakashi's shoulder, panting, his eyes squeezed shut. Kakashi inside him, the friction, the waves of pleasure whenever Kakashi's cock hit him just right. He was in heaven.

"Yes...Haaa...Ah...Oh, Kakashi..." Iruka moaned shamelessly. He'd never felt so good in his life. He abandoned his dignity and keened when Kakashi shifted ever so slightly, grinding against him, drilling into the spot that was driving Iruka mad. Kakashi began to pick up the pace, thrusting in and out of him, pushing him up against the headboard. The chuunin sank his teeth into Kakashi's shoulder and tore at his clothes.

"Kakashi...I...Ahh..." Iruka panted. He knew he was close, he could feel his entire body twisted like a top, ready to snap. He was amazed he'd lasted this long.

Kakashi suddenly stopped thrusting. He tugged at Iruka's waist, urging him to turn over.

"Hands and knees." The Hokage panted.

Iruka quickly did as he was told. As soon as he was bent over before Kakashi, he felt an iron grip on his hips and Kakashi was inside of him again. Except this time, it was much faster, stronger. Iruka gasped and went down to his elbows, fisting the sheets and biting into them. The Hokage pounded into him relentlessly and Iruka felt himself slip.

"_Kakashi._" Iruka moaned. He came, Kakashi riding him through his orgasm. He panted heavily into the sheets, enjoying the feel of Kakashi still inside of him. It wasn't long before he heard a deep, low moan and felt warm fluid fill him. The two sagged down together, Kakashi slowly removing himself from Iruka before rolling to the side and laying next to him.

Not one time in his entire life did he recall feeling so good. He had no idea sex could be so passionate. His body tingled, his legs were a little numb, his mind felt like it was on vacation and he was sure he had the stupidest grin on his face. It was amazing. Kakashi smiled back at him.

"It's a good thing I put a sound-blocking jutsu on your apartment, Iruka. Otherwise the whole village would know what we did by lunch time tomorrow."

Iruka froze. He looked absolutely mortified.

"Oh...I...didn't...sorry. Was I too loud?"

Kakashi laughed again and pulled Iruka closer. The chuunin felt a kiss being placed on his forehead.

"You were sexy, Iruka. I liked it. Especially...when you begged. You have no idea what that did to me."

That did nothing to diminish Iruka's embarrassment. He felt ridiculous. "Oh, God...I _did _kind of beg..."

"It was delicious." Kakashi purred before he captured Iruka's lips in a deep, long kiss. With a sigh Iruka snuggled right up against Kakashi, his Hokage's clothes brushing against his bare skin. That turned Iruka on, somehow. Knowing Kakashi had that barrier and he didn't. He certainly was learning a lot about himself lately. Apparently, he had some kinks.

Iruka moaned lightly as Kakashi's hands roamed his body. He felt a leg hook around his and pull their hips together. It embarrassed Iruka how much he liked the feeling of being vulnerable in Kakashi's arms, his bare hips pressed against clothed ones, the fabric a blissful friction against him.

"You're hard again." Kakashi spoke as he pulled away. "Iruka...you're really surprising me."

"I like it when you touch me." Iruka whispered back.

There was fire in Kakashi's eyes as he rolled over and on top of Iruka. The two gazed at each other, Iruka trying his best to shed his shame and just accept himself. Kakashi didn't seem to be bashful or embarrassed. He was open, 'naked', as he'd stated before.

"You don't mind that you can't touch me?" Kakashi asked.

It was especially hard now, but Iruka kept reminding himself not to be embarrassed.

"I...I think...I kind of like it..." He murmured, despite his efforts not to be bashful.

A large, pleased grin spread across Kakashi's face like melted butter.

"That's what I thought..."

Iruka wanted to punch Kakashi in the arm and ask why he always had to make Iruka say everything when he already knew the answer. The thought fled him when he felt Kakashi run his flat palm up Iruka's body from his abdomen to his neck. The chuunin swallowed thickly.

"We can't leave you like this now, can we?" Kakashi whispered, his voice husky.

Iruka, never looking away from Kakashi, shifted his hips around so he could open his legs and position them on either side of Kakashi. His expression was almost one of innocent abandon; giving himself to Kakashi thoughtlessly because he trusted him.

The look the Hokage shot down at him was almost enough to make Iruka come again.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A long, satisfied yawn escaped Iruka's lips as he woke to his alarm clock. He turned and slapped his hand down on the noisy contraption. Something seemed terribly out of place. Iruka sat up in his bed, looking around.

Kakashi was gone.

A nervous pang shot through his stomach. The chuunin shook his head and tried to talk sense to himself. Of course he left early, Kakashi was Hokage; he was busy. Iruka didn't know why it would upset him to wake up and find Kakashi gone.

The chuunin threw off the covers and stepped out of bed. At the corner of his eye he noticed something float down to the ground. He blinked and bent down, searching the area near his bed. A little note sat on the floor, innocently staring at him from where it had landed. Iruka picked it up and read it with mounting anticipation.

_Iruka,_

_I'm sorry to leave you like this. Well, the truth is I couldn't bring myself to leave last night; I was too comfortable. But, I have a lot of things to do this morning and I didn't want to disturb your sleep to say goodbye. I know you need your energy for your students._

_Hopefully you're not too sore today,_

_Kakashi._

Iruka smiled as he folded up the note. His night with Kakashi came floating back to his mind and he closed his eyes and enjoyed it. They'd fallen asleep after their second time, and it had been no less passionate than the first. Iruka still couldn't quite get over the fact that Kakashi felt the same way about him. The fact that they'd slept together was on another plane of reality in his mind altogether. If he didn't have the letter, and the soreness, Iruka might have thought it was all an incredibly detailed dream.

A sudden fear of the infinite tsukuyomi clenched the chuunin's gut. He laughed and walked out of his bedroom to take a shower, shaking his head at himself again. It _would_ be just his luck for two infinite tsukuyomi's to happen to him within the same month, but it was damn unlikely.

Iruka showered, dressed, and headed to work in the best mood he'd been in in recent memory. When he arrived at the academy, he stood before his class and delivered their lessons with such flare many of the students were staring at him like he'd grown an extra head. At lunch break, Iruka had to be snapped back to the conversation three times while he ate with his work friends. They asked him what the heck was up, but he just smiled and said he was in a good mood.

"You kinda look like you just got laid." One of the younger teachers remarked flatly.

Iruka turned bright red before he was able to catch himself and wave the comment off. His comrades sighed and gave up needling him for the moment, but promised more later.

When Iruka returned to his class, it was to find an ANBU standing in the doorway with a hoard of children whispering excitedly behind him. Iruka blinked and bowed in greeting.

"ANBU-san. What can I do for you?"

"Keekyo has run away from home. We were wondering if you'd have any ideas as to where she would be hiding."

Iruka's expression fell into scared shock. He hadn't thought anything about the young girls absence from class that morning, especially since her mother was always so attentive. He ducked his head and tried to think. Keekyo had a thing for nature, he remembered that. She was always wanting to practice in the forest instead of out in the open.

"She loves trees. I would check the park in the middle of the village. I can hardly keep her from running off into the woods when we train outside."

The ANBU nodded his thanks and turned to leave.

"Wait! How long as she been missing? Why did she run away?"

"That information is classified for now." The ANBU responded calmly. He was gone in the next instant, the class 'ooing' and 'awwing' at the teleportation jutsu.

Iruka leaned against the doorway, incredibly concerned for his young student. Keekyo hadn't been one of the kids he'd kind of 'singled out' for extra help in dealing with the infinite tsukuyomi. It didn't mean everything was daisies with her, but to run away? Konoha wasn't a big village, and a child getting past the main gates was pretty much impossible unless they were some kind of prodigy, which Keekyo was not. It seemed pointless unless she was in trouble.

Iruka's mood was shot for the rest of the day. He finished with classes and was sure to ask his students if anyone wanted to stay behind to talk about anything. He only had a couple students stay this time, which was supposed to be a good thing, but now he wondered how many needed help that weren't getting it.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

In the wee hours of the night, Iruka sat at his marking table with his face leaning against the palm of his hand. He had been trying to mark for the majority of the evening, but couldn't get his mind off of his missing student. Iruka wanted to go to Kakashi and ask, but he didn't want to think he had 'special privileges' just because they...well...had sex. Awesome sex.

_Awesome _sex.

That brought a smile to Iruka's face, a smile that had been missing since lunch time. He sighed and dropped his pen onto the table. This was pointless and he knew it. He may as well go to bed and toss and turn all night and just get it over with. Another loud sigh escaped the school teacher as he scraped his chair back, stood with a wince, and hobbled over to his bedroom. If only there was something he could do to help, but if ANBU was involved, he didn't think there would be. That was another thing...Kakashi had thought the situation was so serious he'd involved ANBU. Why was that?

Morbid thoughts followed the chuunin as he fell onto his mattress. Cuddling up and closing his eyes, Iruka tried to relax. It was pointless and he knew it, but he figured he'd have to try. Class tomorrow was going to be hard on such little sleep, but he'd technically done it today. He just hoped Keekyo would be there tomorrow.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A loud thud woke the teacher from his light, troubled sleep. He popped his head up and looked around, all senses on high alert. Silence followed. Iruka closed his eyes and felt anxiety stir in his stomach.

_Please don't be anything. I'm really not in the mood to deal with more craziness._

A loud knock sounded at his door.

Iruka threw the covers off and leaped out of bed. Sure, it could be someone disguised as a child ready to molest him. Or it could be Kakashi. That was definitely worth the risk.

The chuunin practically smashed into the door, he rushed at it so quickly. "Who's there?"

"It's me."

Iruka pressed his forehead against the wood door frame in a brief moment of sheer, utter relief. He swung the door open and greeted Kakashi with such a wide eyed, hopeful look that the Hokage seemed to actually grow more somber in response.

"Kakashi! I'm so glad. Have you...I mean..."

"We found Keekyo, Iruka." Kakashi answered quietly.

Iruka laughed and clasped his hands together. "Oh. That's great. I was having a hard time sleeping-"

The chuunin was cut off by Kakashi gently grasping his arms and walking him backwards into his apartment. Iruka looked understandably confused but followed his Hokage's lead. Kakashi turned and gently closed the front door behind him. The copy-nin returned his attention to Iruka, standing so close to him that their chests slightly touched. There was something in his eyes that scared Iruka.

"What...what's going on?"

"She's dead."

Iruka stepped away from Kakashi. He looked devastated, his eyes blown wide in disbelief.

"..._No_...how?"

There seemed to be light rings under Kakashi's eyes that Iruka hadn't noticed before. He was clearly not taking the news that much better.

"She must have been so desperate to hide. She was found in what appeared to be a self-dug hole. She put a slab of earth and grass on herself, but must have fallen asleep. One of the ANBU dug her up in the forest you recommended they search."

Iruka squeezed his eyes shut and glanced down, trying not to cry. He couldn't believe it. Keekyo had been a pretty good student, definitely smarter than suffocating herself. It just didn't make sense.

"Why..."

Kakashi stepped up to Iruka again, sliding his arms around his waist lightly. As he suspected, the chuunin instantly melted against him.

"We're investigating. Her parents claim ignorance, but that's obviously not true."

The warmth from Kakashi's body calmed Iruka's tears, but it did nothing to stave away his guilt. "I...feel like I should have been able to do something."

"What could you have done?" Kakashi asked gently.

"I should have noticed something was off. I...she stayed with me and the other students after school during our first session. She seemed to be alright after. I can't remember if she told me what her dream was about. I just...should have paid better attention."

"You're not her parents, Iruka. You already did more than enough."

The chuunin shook his head against Kakashi's chest. The arms around him tightened and he couldn't help but return the embrace. Kakashi was strong and warm and comforting in his resilience. It was a terrible tragedy, and it must have affected the Hokage as well.

"How are you doing?" Iruka asked as he glanced up at the older ninja.

Kakashi smiled down at him, but his eyes looked tired and hollow. "I'm...frustrated. It was a senseless death that shouldn't have happened. I want to get to the bottom of it."

The words from his Hokage seemed to sink Iruka's heart even further. He didn't want the warmth from Kakashi to leave, but he knew his visit was only temporary.

"I'm..._technically_ here to question you. But no one said it had to be a formal process."

Iruka laughed lightly at Kakashi seemingly following his train of thought, but it didn't have much mirth to it. "Of course. Ask me anything you like. I want to help."

Kakashi managed to maneuver Iruka over to the couch without having to let go of him. They sat down together, with Kakashi giving him one last gentle squeeze before leaning back and extracting a scroll and brush from his pack.

"You started to say that she was affected by her infinite tsukuyomi. How?"

"Oh..." Iruka started, looking serious as he concentrated. "She wasn't too bad. I remember she cried with the class when I first asked them about it. She stayed after school during our first counselling session. I remember...I asked her what her dream had been about and she just shook her head. I thought she just wasn't ready to talk about it. But, she didn't come out to the session the next night and looked fine in class that day. I assumed her dream simply hadn't been that bad, but that she was sad for her classmates instead."

Kakashi was scribbling down Iruka's comments wickedly fast. It amazed the chuunin that Kakashi managed to excel at everything, even note taking.

"Did she ever talk about her parents?"

After thinking about it for a moment Iruka slowly shook his head. "No. I met her mother several times and she seemed like a nice person. Keekyo has never missed a day of class until today. Her mother always brought her to school..."

Kakashi stopped writing when he noticed Iruka looking continuously more somber. The Hokage tried to give a comforting smile.

"I'm sorry, Iruka. If it wasn't so imperative to do this quickly..."

"No! No. I'm fine." Iruka protested. "Please continue."

That brought a real smile to Kakashi's face as he looked back down at his notes. "Alright. Did you ever notice anything strange with Keekyo? Maybe...a slightly haggard appearance, no lunch, any bruises?"

Iruka tried his hardest to remember, but he was an extremely observant person and if Keekyo had showed signs of abuse he was confident he would have noticed. "No. Only recently, but she didn't stand out from her class at all. There were other students in far worse condition than her."

Kakashi nodded and wrote furiously. He seemed to be adding his own notes to the interview as he wrote far more than Iruka felt like he'd said.

"I...feel like I'm not being very helpful."

With a flick of his wrist Kakashi finished his notes. He rolled up his scroll as he spoke to Iruka. "It is what it is. Maybe her parents are completely innocent in this, who knows? But that's not what I think."

"What...do you think?" Iruka asked quietly. He was almost afraid to ask.

The Hokage's pack snapped shut behind him. He turned back to Iruka, his eyes hard and sharp.

"I think Keekyo was made to feel like she wasn't wanted."

Iruka sat back on the couch. "What makes you say that?"

"Well. I could sense guilt from her parents, first of all. Especially her mother. It's interesting that she was always the one to bring Keekyo to school, since both of her parents are ninja. At their age, it's rare for them to be on the same mission unless there's a reason for it. They couldn't possibly have the same schedules. I think her mother went out of her way to bring her to school because the father didn't care to."

Intrigued by Kakashi's deductive abilities, Iruka leaned forward slightly. "You have a reason for thinking this. He wasn't emotional at the news of his daughters death?"

"It wasn't so much...his reaction. It was more his answers when we questioned him. He barely seemed to know anything about her. When we asked how she was in school, he said she was doing poorly. When we asked the mother, she said she was doing well enough, but didn't have any passion for it. I asked her why Keekyo was in ninja school if she didn't have a passion for it and the mother went completely white. She stammered out a completely bogus answer. Their family apparently comes from a long line of ninjas. It seemed like Keekyo didn't really want to be one."

Iruka put his face in his hands. "She always tried so hard. I thought she was a great student."

"Hey." Kakashi shifted closer to Iruka, placing a calming hand on his back. "Don't go blaming yourself again. You aren't Keekyo's only teacher. Besides, your year is graduation year. She was probably putting everything she had into it."

The chuunin was giving it his all to keep it together in front of Kakashi, but it was hard. He prided himself at being good at reading his students, but this one had gotten the better of him, and now she was dead. He kept wondering if he couldn't have done better by her. Noticed more.

"Iruka."

With slight hesitation, the chuunin glanced up. Kakashi was looking right at him, concern and fear in his eyes. "That's enough for today."

"No..." Iruka protested weakly. "I want to know everything."

"I want you to get some sleep."

Kakashi moved so close to Iruka that they were pressed against each other. Gently he captured the chuunin's chin with his fingers, tilting his face so there was nowhere to look but at Kakashi. "If I told you I could guarantee your rest, would you let me?"

"What..." Iruka whispered, captivated by Kakashi's intensity. He grasped the hand that held his chin. "How?"

Kakashi dipped his head, pausing just before their lips met.

"Just trust me."

Their eyes locked and the consent was given just before Iruka closed his eyes. There was the briefest of pauses before Kakashi pressed his lips to Iruka's. Fire seemed to flow between them and the kiss deepened instantly. Iruka opened his mouth and Kakashi's tongue slid against his. A small, soft object was left in the chuunin's mouth as Kakashi pulled his away. With barely a thought against it, Iruka closed his lips, tilted his head back and swallowed the pill.

The Hokage was on him as soon as he was done, kissing him, touching him and pressing him against the couch. Iruka whimpered loudly and gripped the body on top of his, his lips and tongue responding with equal intensity. Their bodies slid against each other, ground together. Iruka couldn't get enough of Kakashi; his taste, his hard body, his unbelievable warmth.

One moment his arms were full of his Hokage, and the next, they seemed to be impossible to lift. Iruka gasped lightly as his hands slowly slid off of Kakashi and dropped to the sides of the couch. Their kiss slowed, becoming a chaste peck when Iruka couldn't feel his legs anymore. Kakashi gently pulled away, gazing down at Iruka with warmth, his eyes still ringing with lust.

"Sleep well, Iruka. I'll come to you when I figure everything out. Until then, I order you not to stress."

The last thought the chuunin had was how frustrating it was that he couldn't say anything witty back.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi tried to get one last chapter of his book in before the meeting he so dreaded, but he found himself less interested in his precious Icha Icha than normal. Perhaps it was because he had a 'makeout tactic' of his own actually going on in his life that was _far_ more interesting, or maybe he was just too damned tired to read.

The band of ninja assembled before him and Kakashi closed his book with a snap. There was something damned weird going on in his village and he'd had quite enough of it. If it took him all week, he was going to get to the bottom of this mess.

"Thank you for joining me." Kakashi greeted pleasantly as soon as the shinobi had settled comfortably. It felt strange for Kakashi to be on the Hokage side of a monthly jounin meeting, but somehow, it felt right. Despite his initial hesitance to be Hokage, he felt like he was meant to fill the role for the time being.

"For those of you who haven't guessed why I've called this meeting, I'll give you a brief summary."

The Hokage pulled out a large scroll. It unravelled and hit the ground with a depressingly loud smack.

"The main issue seems to be a select number of our dear residents being unable to recover from their brief interactions with the infinite tsukuyomi. From the few reported incidents, it seems to be a relatively small number of individuals, but considering how fast more are cropping up I would like to take action sooner than later."

People in the crowd either looked confused or nodded their heads in agreement. Despite some of them not being jounin, Kakashi had invited Naruto's class to the meeting as well. They had all fought hard and brave in the war; they deserved to be considered in the village's business.

"The majority of cases seem to be people unable to accept reality once given a very life-like version of their dreams. The most affected are either the middle-aged or very young. We haven't had any teenage incidents, or older resident ones. I'm assuming this is because young adults are old enough to understand what happened, but young enough that their lives could still turn out to be like their dreams. Our senior's have lived their lives and completely accepted their lots, as far as I can see. According to our new Head Master, Umino Iruka, the young children of the academy have not taken the transition so well. Most seem to be recovering, but the more vulnerable ones are having a difficult time."

It almost cracked Kakashi's serious Hokage demeanour to see Naruto smile like an adorable idiot when he mentioned Iruka as Head Master. The relationship between those two was something Kakashi had always respected Iruka for.

"So. The reason I've called you here is this: I wanted you to be aware of what is happening in order to assist our fellow villagers before they do anything they regret. In order for us to take a more preventative approach, I want you to inform me of anything strange you notice amongst your friends and associates that may lead to incidents like the one's we've already experienced. Details of their...psychological well-being before the war is important as well. Our goal is to nip this problem in the bud as opposed to dealing with it on a case-by-case basis."

Murmurs ghosted over the crowd as the ninja spoke to each other in regard to Kakashi's request. To the Hokage's relief, he saw a lot of helpless shrugs. That was what he really wanted, ultimately; for this to just have been a few isolated cases and for it all to blow over.

Shikamaru raised his hand and Kakashi nodded.

"Now that you mention it, the man I buy my fruit from hasn't been himself since we got back. I just assumed he'd lost someone in the war, but maybe it is as you say."

"Please keep an eye on him, Shikamaru. Actually...if you could talk to him the next time you see him, that would be better. Did he seem...easily upset before?"

The young ninja shrugged lazily. "Maaa...he was alright. I didn't know him that well, honestly. He did have a bit of a temper, though. If you eyed one of his fruit too long, he'd get all huffy and tease you about marrying it before you bought it. Now he just...grumbles about buying marriage. I can't understand anything he says anymore."

Kiba snickered and Ino elbowed him with a frown. Kiba scrunched his nose and leaned close to Ino so he could whisper.

"It's funny because Shikamaru is probably a fruit who's never getting married."

The face Ino made was enough to tell Kiba that his comment was not appreciated.

"_Thank you,_ Shikamaru." Kakashi cut in, attempting to reign in the maturity of his meeting. "Let me know what information you can gather on him."

"My neighbour seems to be really bitter." One ninja offered from the back of the room. "I said good morning to her yesterday and she snapped at me. She said there was nothing good about it and stormed off."

"What was she like before the war?"

"Oh. Well. She seemed pleasant enough. Although...she's not that young anymore and is still single, and I know that was always a touchy subject with her. Actually! I saw her walking around with a bundle kind of in the shape of a baby a few days ago. Just...walking around with it. I'm pretty sure it was just laundry."

"Are you talking about Nabia?" Someone offered.

"Yes! You know her?"

"She can't have children. Her fiance left her when he found out." The voice answered sadly. "It was a few years ago."

The ninja who originally spoke looked horrified. "Jeeze..."

"Please speak to your neighbour and report back to me." Kakashi asked as he scribbled notes onto his scroll. The ninja bowed and sat in sombre silence.

The rest of the meeting continued thus. There were four more ninja who spoke up about people they knew who were acting strangely, and Kakashi recorded them all. From what his fellow shinobi had said, it seemed to be as he thought: The people who were affected the strongest were those who had the predisposition to be so. Either villagers who had lost loved ones, were unhappy with their lives, or had some other issue that plagued them. Those who were either relatively happy or of sound enough mind to deal with their issues in peace did not seem to be scarred from their experience.

Kakashi found his thoughts drifting back to Iruka. He was a prime example of a situation that could have been bad, but wasn't. The school teacher had just as much reason as half of the people who couldn't cope to go loopy, but he was too strong willed and logical to do so.

Actually. None of the people, save the one rando who tried to scale the outer wall of Konoha, who were acting out were ninja. They were either young pre-graduates or regular citizens. There was certainly something to say about the hard wills of the ninja of Konoha. They had long ago accepted their lots. Worse had happened to them than a false dose of reality.

Kakashi made his way back to his office with a heavy sigh. It certainly wasn't the worst situation he could find himself in, but it was such a strange issue that he found himself stumped about how to deal with it. His ninja were still tired, buildings needed to be repaired, the economy was in shambles and he was chin deep in negotiations with the other Kages. What resources did he have to put towards the 5% of his population that decided life wasn't fair and gave their sanity up to the winds?

The scroll went whizzing across the room as Kakashi flopped down on his couch and tossed his Kage hat. He supposed all that could be done was what he'd already accomplished; inform the ninja and deal with each situation as it arose.

Kakashi sat up quickly.

"Oh!"

It was such a simple solution. Just offer therapy sessions open to the public. His ANBU barely had anything that psychologically scarring to do, they wouldn't need their therapists for a while. He could ask them to have an open clinic for a few weeks to iron out the wrinkles in the fragile minds of his citizens.

God, he was a genius.

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Iruka shouldered his pack and made his way home. To his surprise, whatever Kakashi had given him had no drowsy side affects. That morning he'd woken up, fresh as a daisy, ready to conquer the world. It was almost tempting to ask Kakashi where he'd gotten it from. It couldn't hurt to have a stash of sleeping pills, could it? Especially with how his month had been going...

Something caught the chuunin's eye and he stopped. There were fliers stapled to every odd pole down the main shopping street. When Iruka read what they said, he couldn't help but smile. Kakashi was offering free therapy sessions for anyone with "post-tsukuyomi syndrome". What a wonderful idea to give it a name and make people feel less singled out.

As the chuunin turned to leave, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Keekyo's mother shopping ahead of him. Unfounded anger surged in his chest, but he reminded himself that the only reason he judged her was because of Kakashi's speculations. Besides, most of his evidence seemed to come from the father, not the mother. Iruka decided he would say hi to her and see how it went.

Except, when Keekyo's mother spotted Iruka, she blanched and nearly dropped all her groceries. Whirling around, she pretended she hadn't seen him, shoved money at the vendor and sped into the crowd so fast a few potatoes tumbled out of her bags.

Iruka stood there with his jaw hanging open. It took him only a moment to recover before his eyes narrowed in determination. Whipping to the side, he ran at full speed behind the stalls, apologizing to anyone he happened to scare to death. The chuunin could see his target through the crowd barely ahead of him. She wasn't going nearly as fast as he was, so it wouldn't be hard to cut her off.

Leaping over apples, dodging startled vendors, Iruka blasted through an opening in the stalls and popped out just a few meters ahead of his prey. It gave him just enough time to adjust himself and not look as if he'd just given-'er through the entire shopping district. Iruka picked up a nice, juicy apple from a stall just as she emerged from the crowd. The woman stopped dead in her tracks and Iruka shot her his most winning smile.

"Hello! What a coincidence."

"Ah...I-Iruka-sensei." She stammered.

The chuunin put the apple back on it's cart and took the few steps needed to come face to face with her.

"I just wanted to say how sorry I am about what happened. You and your husband must be devastated, as am I."

She looked as if she'd recovered nicely from her initial shock and smiled sadly. "Yes...I really must be getting back to my husband, as we are in mourning."

Iruka dropped his usual 'sensei' facade and let all of his frustration and sadness show through. His grip on his school bag tightened and his brow furrowed. "Of course. I just...it feels so sudden. As her teacher, I didn't see it coming."

Keekyo's mother's eyes darted around, as if she was searching for an escape route. When none were immediately apparent, she merely smiled once again and fiddled with her groceries.

"Yes. It was a tragedy. I'm sorry, I can't really talk about it. It's still so fresh."

Iruka bowed lightly and stepped aside. "I don't mean to be insensitive. All in mourning are simply looking for answers, as I'm sure you understand."

The smile on her face was strained as she stepped past Iruka. "Thank you, Sensei." She murmured before melting into the crowd again without a backwards glance.

Iruka watched her go with mounting apprehension. It may have been a natural response for a mother who lost her child to be skittish, but she was also alarmingly defensive. Perhaps she sensed the blame being put on her and her husband and was prickly because of it. Or...this could be the guilt Kakashi had sensed from her earlier.

This sure seemed like a good excuse to visit Kakashi.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Hokage started awake as his face almost slipped off of his hand for a third time. With a little sniff he tried to adjust himself so he was sitting as uncomfortably as possible. He'd actually considered putting rocks all over his chair so he could stay awake. Shizune had offered to stand by his side and continuously slap him, but he figured she'd enjoy it far too much and declined her offer. That poor woman had some serious Hokage Rage built up from paper pushing for Tsunande for way too long. And...curbing her very unhealthy drinking problem.

A loud knock at the door seemed to do the trick in waking the Hokage up further.

"Umino Iruka to see you." The ANBU called.

"Let him in."

The doors opened just enough for Iruka to sneak through with a blush and a smile. Kakashi felt his day get that much better.

"Well. I wasn't expecting company so soon." Kakashi greeted with a smirk.

The chuunin walked up to Kakashi's desk with just the amount of bashfulness that Kakashi expected from him on a daily basis. That was one of the things about Iruka that was super fun; the fact that he would blush at nearly anything.

"I hope I'm not bothering you." Iruka began in a very typical apologetic fashion. "But I had a run-in with Keekyo's mother this afternoon."

Kakashi stood straighter in his chair. "Oh?"

"Yes...as soon as she saw me she fled the market. I ran and cut her off before she could get too lost in the crowd. As I expected, she didn't want to talk to me. I'm...uncertain if our conversation yesterday is twisting my judgement, but I didn't get the impression that she was too sad to talk. She seemed edgy and defensive."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed in thought as he listened to Iruka. He rubbed his chin lightly, seeming to throw piece after piece together in his mind without bothering to share his thought process. Finally he leaned forward, his stance almost lazy in how he sagged over the desk, but is eyes were sharp as a needle.

"I think she's covering for her husband. If I had more evidence, I would have thrown that man into interrogation already. Unfortunately we lost Inoichi in the war, and Ino isn't quite at his level yet, which means our interrogation methods are a little...too messy for someone who is not an enemy of the village."

Kakashi seemed genuinely upset about the fact that he couldn't sentence a civilian to Ibiki's death grip. Iruka felt himself smiling from amusement and wondered if that meant he was a little more twisted than previously thought.

"What kind of evidence do you need?"

A delicate eyebrow quirked at Iruka's question. "Well. I would need proof that Keekyo was mentally abused to the point where she would rather be an orphan than stay with her parents. I've assigned ninja to speak to their neighbours and get any information about how Keekyo was treated. Amazingly, and damningly in my eyes, all accounts so far have been about the mother. No one has ever seen Keekyo's father interact with her. As telling as this is, it isn't actually proof. However, I'm positive that the more people we speak to, the more evidence we'll accumulate. He wasn't a hermit; he went on missions and had some kind of social life. We'll get him."

As Kakashi feared, Iruka stepped forward and placed both hands on the desk, leaning forward slightly with eyes as hard as stone.

"I can help. I know a lot of the villagers, especially in the market."

Kakashi met Iruka's gaze, the two shinobi assessing each other silently.

"Iruka. I know you can help, I've thought about it. But I don't want this case to affect you more than it already has-"

"-She was my student. I know my class is much bigger than three, but if this happened to someone from team 7, there's no way you would take a back seat."

There was nothing Kakashi could say to that and he knew it. He glanced down quickly, mostly to cover the smile splayed across his face, and pushed his chair away from the table. The Hokage stood gracefully and pulled something out of one of his drawers before striding around the desk and coming to stand before Iruka.

Fire blazed in the chuunin's eyes, a look Kakashi was all too familiar with. He let his smile show, handing Iruka the scroll he'd taken from his desk.

"I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to talk you out of it. This is a list of the last batch of villagers I would like questioned. If there's anyone you feel speaking to would be too suspicious, let me know and I'll pass them onto someone else."

A look of faint surprise painted Iruka's face. Slowly, he took the scroll from Kakashi's hand. His eyes flicked up to the Hokage's, and all he saw there was warmth and trust. A lump formed in Iruka's throat and he glanced down quickly, clenching the scroll slightly in his hand.

"Thank you, Kakashi...you..." He trailed off, unsure how to word what he wanted to say. He could feel Kakashi's intense gaze burning his cheeks.

"...Lately, you've just been so kind. I never would have expected...I mean, everything you've done for me. It's a lot. It means a lot to me."

Iruka sucked in a sharp breath and looked back up at Kakashi. The Hokage's eyes were soft, affectionate, and all for Iruka. The chuunin found it hard to breathe as he gazed up at the man he was growing far too fond of.

"I like you." Kakashi started, his voice gentle but husky. "But. You know I wouldn't be doing any of this if you didn't deserve it."

"O-of course..." Iruka stammered, caving at the intense warmth emanating from Kakashi. "Even still, it...you're...not making this _any_ easier." Iruka ground out as his Hokage's warm smile turned into a wolfish one at his bashfulness.

Kakashi laughed lightly and took another step forward. He cupped Iruka's cheek in his hand. His thumb gently caressed Iruka's skin as the chuunin's blush deepened.

"You're welcome. It's my pleasure. Really."

There was a moment where the two merely stood close to each other in a thick silence. Iruka was clutching the scroll to him like a lifeline. This whole 'feelings' business was extremely nerve wracking. When it was someone you really liked, it was like paralysis. Iruka felt like his entire body was made of lead and his vocal cords seemed to have skipped town on an extended vacation.

A soft brush of skin against his cheek snapped Iruka's head up and reminded him that Kakashi still had his hand on his face. There was something deep in Kakashi's eyes that Iruka was terrified to read too much into.

"You already have so many people in your heart, Iruka. How will you ever be able to fit any one else?"

It felt like someone sucker punched Iruka in the chest. Kakashi was practically oozing sensuality, and the fact that he'd even thought about Iruka' heart made the chuunin's stomach feel like a hoard of butterflies were smashing against his insides.

"That's the great thing about hearts." Iruka began, his fresh innocence shining through. "They're never full."

Lips pressed against his and Iruka briefly wondered when Kakashi pulled his mask down. They closed their eyes, gently pressed their bodies together and kissed slowly. It was as if they were exploring each others mouths for the first time. Gentle pecks, lingering kisses, playful tongues. Iruka felt like he could kiss Kakashi forever. He tasted like books and authority, though the chuunin knew what neither of those really tasted like.

Their noses practically smashed open against each other when a loud knock broke them from their spell. Kakashi looked incredibly annoyed and Iruka glanced down and laughed lightly, feeling embarrassed despite the fact that no one had seen them.

"Who is it?" Kakashi ground out.

"Who do you think, brat? What the heck is taking so long?"

Iruka's entire head turned red and he nearly jumped back from Kakashi. Thank God Tsunande had enough respect for Kakashi to bother knocking instead of just barging in. She hadn't been Hokage that long ago, Iruka really wouldn't have blamed her.

With a sweet smile and an apologetic look, Kakashi took his leave of Iruka and went to personally let Tsunande in. When the door opened she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, looking as annoyed as she had sounded.

"What the heck were you doing that you couldn't- Oh."

The look Tsunande gave Iruka nearly made him sink through the floor in absolute mortification. He bowed as naturally as he could.

"Good afternoon, Tsunande-sama."

"Good afternoon to you too, Iruka-sensei." She answered with a snide grin as she walked into the room. "And what have you two been up to?"

Iruka tried to remember if Tsunande was this much of a blatant tease when she'd been Hokage, and couldn't seem to recall. Iruka held the scroll up and tried to look as innocent as he definitely didn't feel.

"Kakashi-sama was just giving me instructions on who to question about the Keekyo case."

"Ah." Was her answer. The air of 'caught you suckas' around her seemed to dissipate, but the little quirk in her eyebrows told Iruka she was still pretty sure there was something going on. "I thought you would like to get involved."

"Yes, very much so." Iruka answered as seriously as he could.

Kakashi seemed just as amused as Tsunande as he stepped in between them and gently placed a hand on Iruka's shoulder. "I scheduled a meeting with our late and great Hokage for this time, Iruka. I completely forgot, so I apologize for the abrupt end to our talk. Do you have any questions?"

"No. I know what to do." The academy teacher answered quietly. The two ninja stared at each other for a moment, silently communicating a much deeper goodbye than they could speak out loud.

"Thank you for allowing me to help, Hokage-sama." Iruka concluded as he bowed formally.

A little nod of his head was Kakashi's casual response. "Report back as soon as you have any information."

Iruka turned and smiled as pleasantly at Tsunande as he could considering the fact that she was still grinning wolfishly at him with her arms crossed.

"Good luck, Iruka-sensei." She purred.

"Ah...thank you, Tsunande-sama."

When the door had closed after the chuunin, Tsunande spun back to Kakashi and slapped her hands onto her hips. "Well. The least you kids can do is _try_ not to be so obvious."

A pile of books was smacked onto the table and Kakashi began casually rifling through pages.

"I really can't know what you mean, Tsunande."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Iruka began his detective work immediately. He knew every single name on Kakashi's list; they were either people he bought groceries from or parents of present or past students. The chuunin knew he was well versed in the people of his village, but exactly HOW well versed had not been truly known to him until that day.

Unsurprisingly, he initially found the same thing as their previous detectives. Most people in the village knew Keekyo only by her mother. They said she seemed kind enough, though quiet. Not _particularly_ doting on Keekyo, but not a bad mother by any stretch. One vendor _did _say that she always seemed a little stressed.

"Haunted, almost." The old woman confirmed. "I'd know that look anywhere. I always wanted to ask, but felt rude intruding. You never know with ninja's."

"Of course." Iruka reinforced with a smile. "It's just...it's so sudden."

The vendor smiled affectionately and patted Iruka's arm. "It must be hard for you. You haven't spoken to Keekyo's mother yet?"

"Well..." Iruka began, then cut himself off as conspicuously as he could. "I mean. I don't want to assume anything."

Naturally, the older woman leaned in, her instincts hungry for gossip. "What is it?"

"She...well, avoided me. Of course, she's in a period of mourning. But she seemed cold when trying to talk about Keekyo. I wasn't expecting it, is all."

A little spark seemed to ignite in the woman's eyes that had Iruka nearly high-fiving himself.

"I must say. That doesn't surprise me."

Iruka leaned in. "Oh? How do you mean?"

"Well! Like I said, she always seemed a little...off, you know? And my neighbour told me HER neighbour told her that Keekyo's father always wanted a son. Very much wanted a son. Apparently, he was MUCH more social before had a child. He would go to bars and chant about how happy he was to have a son and how he was going to teach him to be this great ninja. And then their child was born a girl, and he didn't even want to talk about it. He kind of...stopped showing up to his usual spots. Everyone just assumed it was because he was busy being a father. Perhaps that's all it was, really."

Iruka felt his heart nearly explode in his chest with excitement. "How did this...neighbour know all this information?"

"Her husband was a friend of Keekyo's father."

"Huh. Do you happen to know this man's name? The friend of Keekyo's father that is." The chuunin asked, his face and voice a mask of casual curiosity.

She looked like she was thinking hard. "Well. I don't know what his name is, but my neighbours' neighbours' name is Tahiro."

If it would have been possible, Iruka would have kissed this old woman. He knew exactly who Tahiro was. She was the mother of one of his current students. How damn perfect was that?

"Thank you. It's...good to get some information, you know? To calm my nerves."

The old woman smiled and continued to pat Iruka's back. "Of course, child. If you ever need to know anything else, you know where to come to."

Iruka let a genuine smile of gratitude show through. "Thank you."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Kakashi sighed loudly and scratched the back of his head. "Maaa...you always make these meetings longer than necessary."

Tsunande shot him a filthy look and made to throw a book at his head. "I swear brat, don't try my temper."

The current Hokage was about to shoot a witty remark back when an ANBU knocked at the door.

"Message from Umino Iruka."

Tsunande raised an eyebrow with a grin. "My, that was fast. Love letter?"

"Please come in." Kakashi ordered with a sweet, innocent smile to Tsunande. The ANBU teleported in and handed Kakashi his note. With as casual a look as he could muster, he uncurled it and read it quietly. When he finished, the broad smile and warmth in his eyes was laced with pride.

"Not quite. In only two hours, Iruka has managed to gather more information on the case than the three other ninja I assigned two days ago."

Without another word, Kakashi leaned forward and handed Tsunande the note. She grasped it with interest and read it quickly.

"Huh. It seems you're right about the father being suspicious."

"So far. Nothing he's done is illegal, though. And since the family was so secretive, it'll be hard to find evidence of abuse, if we ever can."

"Unless the mother confesses."

Kakashi sighed. "Yes. We'll see what magic Iruka can conjure in the market."

As if the gods themselves heard Kakashi's plea, another knock sounded at the door. The two Hokage's looked at each other with surprise, both seeming to say "it can't be."

"Message from Umino Iruka." The ANBU called.

Tsunande's jaw dropped and Kakashi ordered the ANBU in. When the note was delivered, the two friends huddled together and read the note at the same time.

_Kakashi-sama,_

_The woman Tahino has confirmed my suspicions. Her husband, who was good friends with Keekyo's father, says his spirit instantly diminished when his daughter was born. He acted almost as if she didn't exist. When people asked about her, he would brush the question off and change the subject. It got to the point where no one bothered anymore. Tahino said that she was initially concerned, but that Keekyo's mother seemed to have things "under control" so she didn't want to interfere. She did admit that she thought Keekyo's father was being ridiculous and even cold towards his daughter. Apparently, Tahino is not a fan of him as a person. I think her family could serve as the kind of evidence you need to bring Keekyo's father into questioning. I was able to get this much information just "out of curiosity", but someone asking them on official business could get much more._

_One more thing. I think the infinite tsukuyomi was the 'last straw' for Keekyo. Her father probably dreamed of having a son, and was enraged when he awoke and found it was a lie. His attitude towards her probably worsened. That, or Keekyo dreamed of her father loving her and couldn't handle the reality. Perhaps it's both. I'm unsure of how to confirm this._

_Iruka._

"Well." Tsunande concluded, turning to look at Kakashi. "What say you?"

"I don't want Iruka involved anymore. I'm going to send an ANBU to this Tahino to get an official interview from her. I'm also going to get the names of more of Keekyo's father's friends as well, which I'm certain her husband will know."

The blond woman threw her arms up with a sigh. "I guess this meeting is over, then."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The chuunin splashed more hot water onto his face before giving up and towelling off. He assumed the guilt he'd felt at Keekyo's death would have diminished at helping solve her case, but unfortunately, it hadn't happened yet. Instead, the chuunin felt more bogged down than ever. He wanted answers. He wanted justice. Really, he didn't know what he wanted, but he wanted it.

With a warm cup of tea, a blanket and a book, Iruka settled down on his couch. Marking should have been top priority, but he could hardly concentrate. The kids would just have to wait to find out their mark on their pop quiz.

An hour into his reading he heard a gentle knock on his door. Excitement gripped him as he threw off his blanket and hopped off his couch. Every fibre of his being hoped and prayed it was Kakashi, and hopefully with news.

When the chuunin opened the door, he was not disappointed.

"Kakashi..." He breathed with a smile.

The Hokage chuckled and stepped inside. "I could get used to a greeting like that."

Iruka instantly broke out into an all-consuming flush as he gently closed the door. Kakashi took off his large robe and draped it over a chair on the corner. He yawned, stretched, and scratched his slightly exposed abdomen.

"You can be Hokage next week if you want." The silver haired ninja drawled. "I'm tired."

Iruka laughed. "How about I make you a tea instead?"

Kakashi pouted, but shrugged in acceptance. The chuunin made his way to the kitchen and put the kettle back on the stove.

"So do you have any-Oh!"

The counter pressed into Iruka's back as he jumped back in shock. He'd turned to talk to Kakashi and found him standing just before him. The Hokage smiled down at him gently, amused by his skittishness.

"I didn't greet you properly." Kakashi murmured.

Before he could ask what he meant, Kakashi leaned down and Iruka knew. Their lips met and a sweet, chaste kiss was exchanged between them. It made the chuunin's stomach twist to think that they were alone in his house again, free to act as they wished. The kiss slowly ended and Kakashi smiled down at Iruka, his expression open and warm. Iruka still wasn't quite used to it.

"Did...you still want tea?"

Kakashi laughed and took a step back. "Sure."

Feeling just slightly foolish, Iruka shot the Hokage a bright smile and casually leaned forward to turn the stove on. Coming back to his original stance, he kept smiling and tried to act cool and casual. Kakashi practically had it down to an art.

"Ah. Green?"

"Doesn't matter."

A pack of green tea was quickly yanked from a container beside him and the chuunin dropped it into a cup without looking away from Kakashi. "Green it is."

The two smiled at each other before Iruka cracked and laughed lightly, glancing down.

"So...how's the case coming along?"

A little of the light in Kakashi's eyes diminished at the change of subject. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, seeming much more tired than he had a mere moment ago. "We assigned someone else to your informants, so they've been officially interviewed. Also, they supplied us with names of people who could give us more information. It's...turning out to be such an unnecessary tragedy. No one ever could have anticipated the affect the infinite tsukuyomi would have on the villagers. It seems to have acted as a catalyst for people, or situations, that were already on weak legs to begin with. That it happened to have such tragic consequences for a _child_ is...well."

The kettle whistled and Iruka jumped with surprise. He tended to it quickly as Kakashi continued.

"Anyway. It shouldn't take us long to solve it; we already have a good idea of what happened."

Iruka handed Kakashi his tea with a sombre expression and nodded his head towards the couch. The two left the kitchen and took their seats in the living room. The chuunin briefly remembered the last time they'd shared his couch together and shifted slightly, suddenly feeling the warmth from Kakashi much stronger than before.

"How are you doing otherwise, Kakashi? You said you were tired. It's been hard so far?"

"Maaa..." Kakashi looked bashful as he put his tea to the side. "Don't listen to me. Every other Hokage in history had to deal with a war, or some kind of terror attack during their reign. I have nothing to complain about."

"Hmm." The chuunin sipped his tea with a blink. "When you think about it like that, Konoha hasn't had a very peaceful history. Ever."

A light laugh escaped Kakashi's lips. "We were on a good run before the Great War. And Pein, I suppose..."

The copy-nin turned slightly serious. He leaned in close, Iruka trying his best to look like it didn't heat his body up even further than it already was.

"And...how are _you_?"

"I'm fine. Really." Iruka added when Kakashi merely stared harder. " You've, ah...been a big help. Actually."

Kakashi's eyes danced and his smile turned so bright it was apparent under his mask. "Have I?"

Of course he would respond as vaguely as possible so Iruka was forced to elaborate. Sometimes the chuunin wondered if Kakashi just loved hearing about himself that much, or if it was more the torture he enjoyed.

"_Yes._..well...let's not get too ahead of ourselves-"

Kakashi laughed loudly and Iruka could only blush harder in response. The chuunin's back was slapped playfully and the Hokage readjusted himself with obvious exaggeration into a slouch that was all casual and no pride. "Sorry. Clearly, I had only a small part to play. Please continue."

Recovering elegantly from his embarrassment, Iruka did as he was bid. "Anyway. Yes, you have. You've given me something to focus my energy on, made me feel like I have more power to help the people I want to help. It's...taken my mind off of things I had no right dwelling on. And, well. You're...just...a comforting presence. I suppose."

Iruka stared into his tea cup with such intensity Kakashi had a hard time schooling his features. It clearly made Iruka's more fiery personality show through when the Hokage needled him, so he avoided it for the present.

"It isn't very often that someone refers to my presence as 'comforting', so thank you." Kakashi responded with a warm smile. Slowly, the chuunin tore his gaze from his steaming tea and glanced back up at his Hokage.

"When you allow yourself to be, you're excellent company, Kakashi."

The other ninja's demeanour dropped slightly; still warm but a little more serious. "Yes. I've come to realize quite a few things about myself over the last year. I know I pushed people away."

Kakashi shifted again, turning his body away from Iruka and leaning forward, his clasped hands resting in his lap. The change in his disposition was obvious and the chuunin felt guilty for having caused it.

"The past is the past. You're different now; very different." Iruka began. "What is the point of having a past if we can't learn from it? I know I can be difficult to deal with too, at times..." Iruka supplied, smiling at Kakashi as reassuringly as he could. It seemed to have worked, for Kakashi stood a little straighter and a light smile returned to his features.

"I don't know if I'm so different..."

Iruka's expression adopted Kakashi's usual mischievous one. "A few years ago I couldn't even get you to stick around the mission room long enough to sign for your own reports. And now, we're here together, talking about ourselves. I think that's a big change."

It was obviously a struggle for Kakashi to restrain his smile from getting any bigger, but he managed it. "Maaa...yes. They were just so tedious."

The two ducked their heads and smiled to themselves, mostly at their own thoughts. Iruka still couldn't believe he and Kakashi were talking intimately amongst each other. Kakashi couldn't believe it, either.

"I always thought you were interesting." The Hokage quietly supplied. He glanced over at Iruka, who was now gazing at him in mute surprise. "I guess you can say I have a soft spot for people who go against the grain."

A large, bashful smile accompanied by a growing red tinge took over Iruka's face. He couldn't help but look away again. "I haven't done anything that out of the ordinary."

"Your relationship with Naruto is so natural to you now, that you've forgotten how it started?"

That caused the chuunin to pause. Iruka didn't really think anyone had taken note of it at the time. People hadn't really started to accept Naruto until after the chuunin exams; he didn't think anyone even remembered what Iruka had done for him, it had been so long ago and at such a tumulus time in Naruto's life.

"Oh..." The school teacher gasped lightly, his blush intensifying. No one had ever openly praised him for what he'd done for his student, except for Hiruzen and Naruto himself. Iruka never considered what Kakashi thought of it.

"I...feel I did as any teacher should have..."

"You were the first person to publicly accept him. In a very real way, you shaped the outcome of the wars and the village. Who knows what would have happened if you'd disregarded him as everyone else had."

Iruka stared at Kakashi with his mouth slightly hanging open. He had _never_ thought of that. What if he had heartlessly failed him a couple more times? Surely, Hiruzen would have continued to look out for Naruto's best interests, and SOMEHOW he would have been put on a team that was good for him, even if it wasn't Kakashi's. But would the outcome have been the same...?

The chuunin shook his head to banish those thoughts. He shot Kakashi a smile that was thankful, but sceptical. "I doubt it was as much as that. I know Hiruzen was looking out for him. He would have intervened."

Kakashi shrugged and lay back on the couch, his casual slouch returning. "Mm. Maybe. But what motivated Naruto wasn't just graduating; it was that someone believed in him. When he talked about you, it was like you were his hero. As if he had an image of you as what he aspired to be like, a person he wanted to make proud, like a father."

His heart filling with an overpowering warmth seemed to make the school teacher mute. Back then, he could tell he'd made a difference with Naruto. But the blond firecracker had affected him, too. He'd given him someone more personal to care for. Of course, he loved all of his students. But they usually graduated and moved on, away from his care. But Naruto stayed. He became someone for Iruka to funnel all of his warmth into.

Iruka laughed lightly and had to snap back to reality before he got misty eyed in front of Kakashi. The famed copy-ninja could be so sweet and complementary when he felt compelled to be.

"Ah...thank you, Kakashi. You know, you were -are- important to him, too. You were kind of like the older brother he aspired to show who was boss. You prodded him where he needed to be prodded, you teased him when he needed to be teased." Iruka laughed again, remembering Naruto talking about Kakashi.

"It drove him crazy, but at the end of the day, you could tell he loved it. He knew he was improving. He knew you meant the best for him. It was so much more than anyone had ever done for him."

For the first time in a while, Iruka stopped and took a good look at Kakashi. The jounin looked more emotional than Iruka could ever remember seeing him. It startled him, seeing so much depth to a person who had been out of reach his entire life. He found himself floored.

"Kakashi..."

"I don't think I did him justice, in those early years. None of them, really..." Kakashi muttered, his voice thick. "I was still trying to adjust myself. The way I had lead people, the kind of subordinates I had, nothing compared to genin. I was used to trained, hard killers. People like me, who were closed off and professional. At least on missions, anyway. Most people were different on and off the battle field. Except me."

As if rethinking the direction of their conversation, Kakashi shifted himself and his expression closed off slightly. "I learned, regardless. Although...sometimes I wish I had been more like Gai, or Jiraiya...or you. Someone who could have been affectionate, and forged a real relationship with him, like he needed. But I couldn't."

When Kakashi went silent, Iruka shifted slightly closer to him on the couch. Slowly, he placed a gentle hand on the Hokage's shoulder. Their eyes met, and the warmth from Iruka's calmed the hardness appearing in Kakashi's.

"Considering you were such a cold-hearted, terrible Sensei, he sure turned out alright in the end." Iruka offered with a sly smile. "I suppose you couldn't have been _that_ awful."

The look in Kakashi's eye instantly changed, almost too fast to be seen. One second he looked almost shameful, and the next, his usual confident charm had replaced it. Iruka felt a hard warmth blossom against his side as Kakashi leaned in and pressed against him. Time seemed to completely slow, almost utterly intangible.

"It's a good thing he had his warm-hearted Iruka-sensei to help him, isn't it?"

All Iruka could think about was how good it felt for Kakashi to be so close to him. He never thought he would enjoy an intimacy like this, where he could literally smell Kakashi's skin and feel the heat from his body. Silence stretched between them as they drowned in each others gazes, before Iruka leaned forward and pressed his lips against Kakashi's. They kissed, hot and long and slow, as Kakashi covered Iruka's body with his own.

The two sunk down into the cushions of the couch, Iruka wrapping his legs around Kakashi's waist as their mouths continued to explore each other. Instinctively the chuunin ran his hands along his Hokage's strong back, pulling his shirt up in the process. With a little, drowned gasp, he stopped when he realized Kakashi's clothing preferences. As he pulled his hand away, Iruka was startled to feel the Hokage grab his wrist. They pulled apart, Kakashi smiling down at the chuunin.

Slowly, his eyes boring into Iruka's, Kakashi grasped the ends of his shirt and pulled it over his head. The chuunin couldn't help but note how the Hokage's muscles flexed and shifted as he moved, his skin soft and pale. The ANBU tattoo on his shoulder seemed a glaring contrast to the almost porcelain appearance of Kakashi's body. Iruka quickly rid himself of his own constricting shirt, and soon, their torso's slid against each other and the chuunin couldn't help but gasp again. It felt so good to feel Kakashi against him, his hard, deadly body pinning him to the couch.

"Thanks." Iruka whispered with a small smile.

Kakashi chuckled and lightly kissed the tip of his nose. "Did you just thank me for taking my top off?"

"Oh yah."

They both laughed, but the moment couldn't stay light. A thickness was in the air, accented by raw attraction. Kakashi seemed like he was troubled, like he wanted to say something, but didn't know what. Iruka kissed the underside of his jaw, and the Hokage couldn't help himself. Their lips connected and their hips shifted, ground together. Kakashi decided he would save it for another day.

It took another moment of caressing Kakashi's finally bare torso for the chuunin to realize a lot of that hardness wasn't just his finely sculpted muscles. He seemed to be tense, despite his obvious enjoyment of their intimacy. Iruka pulled back enough to look into Kakashi's eyes.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes." Kakashi whispered, dipping down to tail kisses down Iruka's neck and change the subject.

"You're wound up like a scroll..." The chuunin continued softly.

There was just the slightest pause before Kakashi continued. "I know. It's alright."

Iruka decided from Kakashi's hesitant tone that it was definitely best to continue. He _had_ gone from not wanting to disrobe at all to happily throwing his top off, so there had to be some kind of adjustment. The chuunin lifted his hips, smiled up at Kakashi and slowly pushed his pants off. He knew being more exposed than his Hokage would calm the other man, and he was right. Iruka felt Kakashi's fingers brush against his as he helped the chuunin rid himself of his clothes.

When Iruka lay naked and smiling under Kakashi, something seemed to shift in the eyes of the older ninja. It was as if a small, invisible barrier had snapped and evaporated. With just the smallest change in Kakashi's demeanour, Iruka could tell it was appreciation and trust that replaced hesitance and fear.

With his usual calm confidence, Kakashi casually balanced his weight just above Iruka with one arm as he used the other to slip off the last shreds of the wall between him and his partner.

The chuunin had only a moment to marvel at how gorgeous Kakashi was before his thoughts turned to more tangible things.

If anyone had told Iruka before now that Kakashi smelled like fresh, clean sheets and felt just as soft, he would have thought they were insane.

Their tea's lay cold and forgotten on the table before them.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

SO SORRY for the gigantic gap in updates. I dunno, I just had crazy writers block. I actually opened up this chapter and tried to continue it like 6 times before I finally managed to finish. Not sure what I was waiting for, but at least it finally came. I think I'll just write one more chapter after this, though. Maybe its just the way "Naruto" ended that has kind of killed my desire to write about it.

Anyway! Thanks so much for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, Iruka slowly blinked open his eyes to find himself alone on the couch. Again.

A loud ringing sound shattered the stillness of Iruka's apartment and nearly sent the chuunin through the ceiling in shock. He grabbed his alarm and smashed it shut, placing it back on the coffee table slowly.

Well. At least Kakashi had been sweet enough to make sure he got up for work.

There was no note this time, but Iruka assumed Kakashi had meant the alarm to serve a double purpose. With a long yawn and a little scratch of his bare stomach, Iruka threw off his blanket and padded over to his bedroom. As he dressed, the chuunin couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable with the notion of Kakashi silently leaving every night they were together. As silly as it sounded, he couldn't help but take it personally. Perhaps the Hokage merely saw Iruka as stress relief.

A loud, aggravated sigh escaped the school teachers lips and he slammed his drawer closed. _Enough_ of that. He was in this because he trusted Kakashi; he'd just have to keep trusting him, or stop altogether. No feeling sorry for himself.

With that mindset firmly in place Iruka finished getting ready in record time and headed to class.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

For the fist time since the war, Iruka' class was finally back to normal. According to a few of his students, some of them had attended Kakashi's free therapy sessions with their parents, and looked much better for it. The chuunin felt his heart soar at the mischievous smiles sported by his now rambunctious students. It was like life had been restored to a dying atmosphere.

Iruka never thought he would be so thrilled to dodge a chalkboard eraser.

"_OI_! Did you not see me come in?" He screamed to his class.

They regained their seats respectfully, though the energy hardly diminished.

"Yeeeess, Iruka-sensaaaaiiiiii..."

"Much better." The school teacher responded, utterly unable to keep the genuine smile from spreading across his face. "Now. Seeing as it's Friday, I'm sure you all know what's in store for this morning-"

"-WEAPONS PRACTICE!" The class shouted with their usual glee.

Iruka sighed in his worst attempt at looking distraught to date. "Yes. Weapons practice. Now, _quietly_ and _orderly_ line up in front of the back door."

With far more cooperation than Iruka was expecting his class did his bidding. In no time, they were in four very neat lines before a series of wooden targets. The chuunin placed several buckets full of weapons at his feet and watched with amusement as the children practically salivated at the sight of them.

"Now. Today, we're going to be learning something new. You will learn how to control the direction of your shuriken with chakra."

"_OHHHHH!_"

"Before we get started, I want to go over the safety rules. Today's class will be very dangerous so I'll need..."

Iruka trailed off as he sensed a presence behind him. Whirling around, the school teacher felt his stomach drop at the sight of an ANBU patiently standing beside a tree a few meters from his class. As naturally as possible, Iruka turned back to his class and began to firmly instruct them not to move.

"If anyone touches these weapons, they'll be banned from weapons practice for _three weeks_."

The class gasped in utter horror. Iruka knew there would be no temptation.

As the chuunin approached his comrade, the ANBU bowed respectfully.

"My apologizes for interrupting your class, Iruka-sensei." The otherwise stoic shinobi greeted with amusement evident in his voice.

"Not at all. What can I do for you?"

He casually pulled his arm from its hiding spot in his dark robe. A scroll was clutched in his pointed grip. "Message from the Hokage."

Iruka stared at the rolled up piece of paper like it would burst into flames at any moment. Kakashi wouldn't send him an ANBU carrier message like this if it wasn't important. With a deep breath and a smile, Iruka took the offered object from the other ninja and slowly opened it.

_Iruka,_

_Come to my office as soon as possible. We've taken Keekyo's father into custody._

_Kakashi._

It was extremely difficult for Iruka to hide how tightly his chest constricted at the news, but he managed it. With a little nod he gave the ANBU his recognition that he had read and understood the message, and then the other shinobi was gone.

Another long, deep breath and Iruka was ready to face his students. Stuffing the note in his breast pocket, he casually stroke back to the children.

"Thank you for waiting so patiently, class. Now. Each of you grab a single shuriken..."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After what seemed like an eternity, Iruka found himself standing before the Hokage doors feeling extremely anxious. One of the ANBU guards knocked and announced his presence. He heard Tsunande tell them to let him in, and somehow, he knew there would be even more visitors.

The doors opened to reveal Tsunande, Kakashi, Shizune and Ino. Iruka almost stopped walking when he saw Ino, but quickly deduced that she must be trying her hand at some kind of interrogation. The four ninja stopped talking when they saw him, all turning to him with varying signs of warm acknowledgement.

"Ah, Iruka-sensei. Thank you for coming." Kakashi welcomed brightly. "I hope I didn't cause too much of a fuss with your class."

"Of course not, Hokage-sama." Iruka responded with equal vitality. His expression dropped when he saw Tsunande, who was openly scrutinizing his and Kakashi's conversation. It was all he could do not to blush violently. Clearly, she knew something was up. How embarrassing.

"I called you here because we've had some pretty serious developments in the Keekyo case." Kakashi continued. "As you can see, I've called some expertise in."

Kakashi turned to Ino with a smile and the young girl beamed at him happily in response.

"You were able to gather enough evidence to bring her father in?" Iruka asked, clearly surprised they'd actually managed to accomplish it.

Now the room went sombre. Kakashi closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes. We spoke to many more of his old acquaintances, and they all said the same thing. That they suspected he neglected his daughter, at least emotionally, and that he turned into a completely different person when she was born. That he wanted a son, originally."

"I don't understand why they didn't just have more kids." Ino muttered with contempt. "You want a son so badly? Make one."

"Most people in this village only have one child, Ino. Standard missions don't pay _overly_ well, and the village itself is quite small." Shizune explained quietly. "Perhaps it wasn't really an option for them."

Ino shrugged with a huff, tossing her hair, clearly not thinking much of the couples excuses. "I guess. I never really thought about it like that. Still...it's just so cruel."

The young ninja suddenly looked so sad Iruka feared what news would come next. Shizune put a comforting hand on her shoulder and Ino smiled faintly in appreciation.

It seemed Kakashi took the change in tone as a sign. "Ino, thank you for all your help. Shizune, have you copied her statement?"

"Yes, Kakashi-sama."

"Alright. You can go now if you'd like, Ino."

It seemed like she was about to argue, but there was a tiredness in her eyes that Iruka hadn't noticed before. Slowly, she nodded, and Shizune turned to show her out. Ino gently touched Iruka's arm with a faint smile as she passed him, and he returned it. A glimmer of pride swelled in his chest; it was so wonderful seeing his students grown and contributing their talents to the village.

When the door closed after the young blond, the three remaining shinobi turned to each other, Kakashi regarding the chuunin first.

"Iruka. I brought you here because we need to get an official account from you, not only of what you gathered on your intelligence mission, but also some information on what you have seen as Keekyo's Sensei."

"Of course." Iruka answered softly.

Kakashi turned to Shizune. "I'll leave the rest to you."

Shizune bowed as Kakashi walked up to Iruka, his smile apologetic. "I have to go and take care of a few more things in Intelligence. I'll explain everything when I get back."

Iruka returned Kakashi's smile. A warm hand descended on his shoulder and stayed there, the two sharing a moment so brief the chuunin was certain no one could notice.

Oh wait.

He'd conveniently forgotten about Tsunande, who's grin was so wolfish he nearly sputtered an apology. Naturally, it bothered Kakashi not a bit. He merely walked right by Tsunande and out the door, the ex-Hokage following him after she shot Iruka a little eyebrow waggle.

Briefly, Iruka wondered if it wouldn't be easier on his psyche to just admit the whole thing to Tsunande instead of trying to very unsuccessfully hide their little tryst.

"Iruka-sensei?"

"Oh!"

The chuunin snapped back to Shizune, who was looking at him with genuine concern. He must have looked as distraught as he felt.

"I apologize, Shizune-san. Where should we start?"

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The process was far more gruelling than Iruka thought it would be. He described Keekyo's father's absence from school, which was so stark that Iruka hadn't actually met him at all. Although the details were scarce, he tried to paint as accurate a picture as he could of Keekyo's mother and her attitude towards her daughter. They also needed an account of Keekyo's attitude, temperament and personality. Iruka couldn't ever remember her being overly sad, but she did seem afraid of bad grades, although many students were. Hinata had been equally terrified, as had Sasuke to a certain degree. Although they all had a reason in common; an overbearing father they aimed to please.

Finally, it got down to the information he'd gathered. Essentially, Iruka reiterated the notes he'd written to Kakashi. Shizune scribbled everything down with impressive speed, barely glancing up from her paper. Iruka marvelled at how she could still write when she'd clearly been at it all day. His hand cramped from marking papers after only a couple of hours.

"Ah...I believe that's all I can think of, Shizune-san."

With a loud sigh the healer dropped the quill and sat back in her chair. "You sure?"

Iruka laughed heartily. "I wouldn't tease you."

With what was obvious relief, Shizune put the scroll to the side for the ink to settle further. She rubbed her temples and made no effort to sit straight or adjust her posture. Iruka gave her a sympathetic smile.

"You look tired."

She sighed again. "It's my eyes more than anything. We've had a lot of information come at us in a small amount of time. I suppose, I'm also just...it's so unnecessary. That poor little girl."

Iruka stood a little straighter, dreading the conversation but ploughing ahead regardless. "Was she running from her family because of her father?"

Shizune nodded weakly. "Yes. Ino saw it clearly in his mind; he'd just been furious with her for merely existing. As you suspected, he dreamed of a life where he'd had a son instead. When he woke to find her there, he couldn't handle it anymore. He just stopped trying to be even remotely nice to her. Even through his eyes, you could see Keekyo slowly break down. She couldn't handle it anymore, either..."

Tears stung Iruka's eyelids, but he held them back. His poor Keekyo...she'd been a perfectly sweet girl. She did not deserve to be driven to desperation by her own family. Iruka wished she'd come to him instead, but they'd never been particularly close. With thick guilt he remembered when he'd wished no more children to show up at his doorstep, but now he would have given anything to open his door and see her there.

"I'm sorry, Iruka-Sensei..." He heard Shizune whisper.

It snapped him out of his deep, depressing thoughts. The look on the other shinobi's face told him tears were the only thing he'd managed from showing on his face.

"Kakashi-sama told me to wait until he got back to tell you, and I should have."

"No, no!" Iruka laughed nervously, trying to shake himself out of his funk. "I'm fine. Really."

It was then that they heard the doors to the office open again. Shizune smiled and hastily stood.

"I'll leave the rest to you, Kakashi-sama."

She winked at Iruka and hurried by, bowing to Kakashi as she left the room. Iruka sat there, blinking in surprise. He hadn't looked _so _horrible as to actually scare Shizune off, had he?

Kakashi made his way to Iruka with none of Shizune's haste. He pulled her chair a little closer and gracefully melted into it. He regarded Iruka with all of the warmth the chuunin had gotten used to receiving from him lately. It was still such a treat.

"I'm guessing from Shizune's guilty retreat that she said more than I'd intended?"

Iruka stared at his hands as answered. "She just gave me the gist of it."

"Hmm. Yes, that was too much."

The chuunin laughed weakly. Now that Kakashi was here, he found it hard to hold back his feelings. Lately, the Hokage had become more and more of a comforting presence in Iruka's life. All he wanted to do was feel his warmth. No part of Iruka wanted to hold back; he wanted to let it all go and take Kakashi in.

"I..I'm not surprised. But, I can't help but feel...like I could have done something. My student was suffering right in front of my face and I didn't notice."

The chuunin jumped back when he suddenly felt arms around him. Kakashi shamelessly held him, his gaze capturing Iruka's, his eyes filled with a soft intensity.

"You have an entire class to look after, Iruka. You can't save everyone. Keekyo's parents only had one child, and they couldn't even look after her. They are the only ones to blame."

Iruka slowly relaxed into Kakashi's embrace. He so desperately wanted to accept his comfort, whatever he would give him, but he wasn't sure. He didn't know if that would be weak of him. He didn't know if he would be overstepping his boundaries. Iruka wanted to rest his head on Kakashi's shoulder and just be held by him.

"I...yes. Of course, Kakashi." The chuunin answered, smiling as pleasantly as he could.

Kakashi's face fell. His grip on Iruka's shoulders tightened.

"Don't do that." He chided firmly.

That had not been the reaction Iruka was expecting. He gaped for a moment before answering. "Uh...what?"

"Don't close up on me."

The irony of _Kakashi_ telling him not to close himself off was not lost on the chuunin. He heard the words of Naruto echoing through his skull; _You need to learn to ask for help_.

But, Iruka found that he couldn't. He didn't know how to _ask _for...it was just too embarrassing. His expression was so distraught that Kakashi couldn't help but smile. He pulled the chuunin a little closer and Iruka willingly went with him.

"What do you need?" Kakashi asked softly.

Iruka felt like someone had picked him up and tossed him into an alternate universe. One where he was the stone-cold, distant hero of a village and Kakashi was the warm-hearted school teacher completely in touch with his emotions. Perhaps this really was just a dream.

Their chests briefly touched as Iruka took a long, deep breath. On his exhale, he felt himself just let go. As he'd so desperately wanted to do, he leaned down and gently rested his head against Kakashi's shoulder. He allowed himself to sink down, nestling against Kakashi's chest. His Hokage was _so_ warm and safe and comforting. Nothing and no one could harm Iruka here, in this haven of sweet smells and overpowering peace.

When Iruka snapped back to reality, he realized that Kakashi had wrapped his arms around him again, and was gently combing his fingers through his hair. Briefly Iruka felt humiliated, like a child, and not at all like a grown shinobi. But the feeling was fleeting. Something told him this was right, and it was ok. It was ok to be a little vulnerable. Kakashi had been vulnerable with him, hadn't he? It had been so hard for him to shed his clothes, his metaphorical walls. But he'd done it, so Iruka could do it, too.

"Thank you..." The chuunun murmured after a time. Somehow, he could feel Kakashi's smile.

"I get a lot of thank you's when my chest is involved."

Iruka blushed, but didn't waver. "Well. It's really nice."

"I've worked hard on it."

"I feel that."

"Do you feel the rest of me?"

Iruka blinked. "The rest...?"

He shot up, smacking Kakashi in the shoulder, his face completely red. "_Really!_"

Kakashi broke down into laughter, smacking his own knee in his glee. He looked like he was trying to say something, but could not form words through his own amusement. Iruka couldn't help but slowly join in with him. The two laughed until there were tears in their eyes. When Kakashi finally managed to settle down enough to speak, he did so as he slowly dabbed at his eyes.

"I...I was kidding." He breathed.

Iruka shook his head, his smile large and genuine. "I definitely figured that out."

"Your face..."

"Was classic from the way you howled."

With one last wipe of his eyes, Kakashi breathed easy and grinned at his fellow shinobi. "I'm not that much of a pervert. Although...it's not like you haven't seen it. Or touched it. Or...taken it in the-"

"_Alright_." Iruka interrupted with another rising blush. "It was just such a sincere, sweet moment. And you had to go Kakashi on it."

"Maaa. Is that a thing now? When someone does something inappropriate, it's a Kakashi?"

Iruka grinned. "I may make it a thing."

"I forbid it in my village." Kakashi countered.

"You'll never conquer an idea, Kakashi. Once it takes hold, it'll-h-hey!"

To his complete surprise, Iruka found himself dodging Kakashi's wicked fast arms. It was only a temporary victory, as he was prisoner in what felt like a moment later. They nearly tumbled over the chairs in their struggles, but after some wobbling, managed to stay aloft.

"Not if I give your mouth something else to do." Kakashi purred shamelessly.

Iruka laughed, unable to keep the bright smile from his lips, before they were softly joined by Kakashi's. They kissed, slowly at first, but passion soon overtook them. Within moments they were panting, Iruka moaning lightly as their tongues danced against each other. He felt Kakashi's hand under his shirt and was overcome with the urge to have him.

"_Kakashi_..."

"I want you." The Hokage breathed.

Iruka shifted against him, his arousal almost uncomfortable. "Yes...but, where..."

In their haze of desire, their eyes caught. With his ever impish grin, Kakashi flicked his gaze over to the crowded Hokage desk. He wiggled his eyebrows once. Iruka's face fell.

"No, Kakashi."

The poor Hokage looked like a kicked puppy.

"But...it's _more_ than big enough."

"It's disrespectful."

Kakashi shot him a flat look. "To what? The desk?"

"...Well...no..."

"The window?"

"No..."

"The wood the room is made of?"

"You know what I mean, Kakashi." Iruka sighed, crossing his arms.

Kakashi looked defeated, but determined. "One day, Iruka. One day."

That brought a shy smile to the chuunin's lips. Kakashi looking forward to future time with him was something that made his stomach flutter.

"How about that couch-shaped pile of comfortable cushions over there?"

Iruka craned his neck and looked over. Oh.

"Ah. That works."

Kakashi looked like a kid who had been let loose in a candy store. He gracefully hopped off the chairs, scooped Iruka into his arms, and carried his prize over to their chosen coitus place.

Iruka couldn't believe how happy he was.

Oh wait.

"Kakashi, Shizune left the report on the-"

"Not now."

"...Ah...Ok..."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Iruka wasn't sure what Kakashi had done in order to grant them so much privacy, but the two had more than enough time to make love and then lay amongst the cushions and finally enjoy each others warmth. The thought of how many other Hokage's had been with their respective partners in their office crossed Iruka's mind, but he couldn't imagine anyone else being so risque. And, well...he still thought it was a little disrespectful. But at least they hadn't desecrated the desk.

Unless...

Iruka squeezed his eyes shut and prayed these weren't Hiruzen's tea pillows.

He...would understand, right?

Kakashi nudged Iruka with a questioning glance. "What's going on in your head?"

"I...was just wondering what use these pillows usually have."

The Hokage was silent for a moment.

"Best not to think too hard about that."

Oh, God. They were totally Hiruzen's tea pillows.

Kakashi laughed and clutched Iruka a little closer. "Don't worry about it." He whispered before he placed a soft kiss on Iruka's cheek. "It's my office now."

The chuunin melted instantly. His hair tie had been long discarded, as Kakashi was fond of doing, and he sighed at the feel of Kakashi's fingers in his hair. The Hokage seemed almost fascinated with his long, chocolate locks.

"Why do you always wear your hear up?" He asked casually.

Iruka shrugged. "I guess...I've been doing it since I was a kid. It's just habit."

"Hmm." Kakashi mused, staring at the strands as they slipped through his fingers. "You look beautiful with your hair down, Iruka."

The chuunin nearly sputtered. "...Beautiful?"

Kakashi's smile was so bright Iruka nearly had to blink twice to adjust his eyes. "Yes. Beautiful."

Any response he could think of hardly seemed adequate. Instead, Iruka leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Kakashi's chest, just over his heart. When he pulled back, the Hokage's eyes were alight. They looked like they would swallow him whole.

"W...why do you wear your mask?" Iruka asked softly.

Kakashi played with Iruka's hair for a moment longer before he answered. "It...is also kind of a habit, actually. When I was young, I thought it made me look really mysterious. I wanted to be taken seriously as a ninja. Women would look at me and lose their minds about how 'adorable' I was and how I looked 'exactly like my father', and at the time, it drove me nuts. Seems like it was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Soon, I didn't want to be associated with him at all. I just...ended up never taking it off."

The chuunin couldn't help but place another kiss over Kakashi's heart. Once again, words just seemed inadequate. Kakashi obviously had a lot of ghosts. Iruka wanted him to let them go as slowly as he needed to.

"And here I thought it was just to hide your dashing good looks." Iruka responded with a warm smile.

"I didn't think it was fair to the rest of the men in the village. No one needs that kind of resentment."

Iruka laughed lightly and Kakashi smiled with him.

"It's a shame...because you light up the room when you smile." Iruka whispered. Kakashi gently kissed him, the two coming together again briefly, their bodies twisting around each other. It was times like this that Iruka literally felt like he was a part of Kakashi.

Man. He was in deep.

When they slowly broke apart, it was with obvious disappointment in Kakashi's eyes.

"We have to get up, Iruka. I've already pushed the limit of how long we have together."

A light laugh accompanied Kakashi's words. "Of course. I'm surprised we've even had this long."

The two stood and began to dress, Iruka trying not to gawk at Kakashi too hard as he slowly slipped back into his clothing. It was such a pleasure to watch his muscles twist and work under his skin.

With just a couple of minutes to spare, a knock sounded at the doors. Kakashi called to their guest as he smiled and jabbed a finger at Iruka's head. Confused, the chuunin placed a hand on his skull..and realized he'd forgotten to tie his hair back up.

But where the _hell _was his hair tie.

"It's Tsunande. Open up." She barked from behind the doors.

No no no no_ nononononono._

Iruka was utterly doomed if she waltzed in here and he just happened to have his hair flowing freely for absolutely no reason, when it had CLEARLY been tied not two hours ago.

Patting his body down like crazy for a substitute, he looked to Kakashi for mercy. The Hokage was already talking unnecessarily slow to the door, so there wasn't much more he could do.

"Yes, yes. The door's open, as it always is. You can come in." He drawled. Although Kakashi paused as much as possible, when he turned back, Iruka was still hair-tie less. The look of defeat and horror on his face was almost enough to make Kakashi break out into laughter again.

Tsunande strode in, looking slightly annoyed for the obvious delay in allowing her entrance. As she came up to the two ninja, she opened her mouth to speak to Kakashi, but did an almost comical double take when she saw Iruka.

"Well! Iruka-sensei. I've never seen this look on you."

"Ah...yes, well...I needed something to occupy my hands with, so I took out my hair tie. I can't seem to remember where I placed it."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Huh. I didn't know you were a fidgeter."

Iruka laughed lightly and tried not to break out into a cold sweat. "Well, the situation is a little...unusual."

"Indeed it is." She agreed. "Well. Have we got your statement, Iruka-sensei?"

"Oh..." Iruka started, in total disbelief that she'd actually believed him. "Yes. Shizune-san has written it all down."

"Excellent. The ugly part is coming up soon; the punishment. Kakashi and I will discuss it at length, but we need all of the evidence first. After Ino prodded his mind, there was really nothing for him to argue against. It's not like he broke the law, but he failed in his duty as a parent and caused mental damage to a young child that ultimately ended in her death. So. We have some big decisions to make."

Iruka turned to Kakashi. The Hokage smiled pleasantly back at him, but Iruka felt his heart go out to him. That certainly wasn't going to be fun.

"Do you need anything from me, Tsunande-sama?"

"No, Iruka-sensei. But, thank you for your assistance. You were instrumental in us closing this case." Tsunande praised with a genuine smile.

Iruka bowed. "I wish I could have done more."

"You did more than enough." Kakashi cut in softly. The two smiled at each other, and Tsunande cleared her throat.

"Before you leave, Iruka-sensei...you might want to retrieve your vest from that pile of cushions. I'm sure you might find your elusive hair-tie there, as well."

It was a strange, almost out-of-body feeling that overcame Iruka. As if, someone else looked down at him and noticed, with a muted horror, that he had indeed forgotten to put on his vest. That person than turned their field of vision over to the location Tsunande suggested, and yes, there it was. Right where he'd left it.

Clearly, he had just been made an ass.

At least he didn't have to worry about admitting their relationship to Tsunande. If there had been any doubt in her mind, it was now quite erased.

"Ah. Thank you." He answered absently. With the same kind of disjointed feeling, he walked over to his vest, picked it up, put it on, and walked back to the current and former Hokages. Kakashi was, as he expected, smiling wolfishly at him. Tsunande looked pleasantly amused.

Iruka swore a painful, slow revenge on Kakashi for his betrayal. He would pay dearly.

"Good day, Tsunande-sama. Kakashi-sama."

Iruka bowed to the two and as casually as he could, and _fully_ aware that he had still not tied up his hair, left the office.

Tsunande turned to Kakashi. She smirked at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're a dick."

He looked scandalized. "Moi?"

"You could have easily told him."

"I'm going to be honest with you. I truly, really didn't notice the vest either."

Tsunande laughed. "You were too taken with his new look?"

"Yes. Actually. I quite like his hair down."

"Indeed." Tsunande chuckled, shaking her head. "I'm happy for you, Kakashi. For both of you. There's only one spinster allowed in this tower, and that's me. Enjoy yourselves."

Kakashi smiled, and the two shared a very deep, very real moment that was not unheard of in their friendship.

"You're not a spinster. You're a warrior. One of the best this village has ever seen."

"Oh, stop." Tsunande blushed, waving his comment off. She quickly changed the subject. "The part that is going to be _really _amusing is when Naruto finds out..."

Kakashi's entire face morphed into one of complete and utter terror. If it was possible, he went even paler. Tsunande barked out a laugh that was so loud she was certain the whole tower heard her.

"Oh ho ho ho..._yes_. Enjoy that. Now, let's get down to business. And I mean real business this time."

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

The next day, as Iruka was shopping for groceries, he ran into the little old lady who had given him the key information they'd needed to solve the Keekyo case. Naturally, she was thrilled to see him. The poor woman nearly wiped out in her desperation to get to Iruka as quickly as possible. The school teacher dumped his bags onto the nearest vendor and ran to assist her.

"Please, don't rush like that." He chided softly as he loaned her his shoulder.

"My goodness, I swear in my prime I was fit as a fiddle. You never really get used to old age."

Iruka chuckled and finally, the older woman was in the clear of a serious and awkward accident. "Thank you for your help, Sensei. I couldn't help but come as quickly as possible, especially since you wanted closure."

The chuunin blinked in confusion. "Closure? About Keekyo? Why, what have you learned?"

With far too much excitement considering the seriousness of the situation, she beckoned Iruka closer and he obliged her by leaning forward.

"Well. Turns out, it was all the fathers fault. Well. I suppose the mother isn't completely innocent either, but still. He drove that poor child to near desperation with his callousness. The details aren't really known, but he was apparently taken from his home yesterday and has been sentenced to unpaid community service until retirement. He's been stripped of his vest and ninja status. Really, just completely shameful. His wife hasn't been seen in public since. I can't imagine this is easy for her, either."

Iruka couldn't help but feel a weight press down on his chest. He supposed 'justice had been served', but it didn't really help ease his pain. Now more people would suffer. Keekyo's mother didn't seem like a bad person, perhaps just too accepting of her husband and his wrong-doings. Some people would see that as a "good wife". In this case, it caused her to fail as a mother. It was just a giant mess.

"Sensei?"

"Ah!" The chuunin snapped his head back up and tried to smile. "My apologies. I was just letting what you said sink in. Thank you for the information, I appreciate it."

The older woman seemed to sense Iruka's sadness and wisely decided to leave him be. They said their goodbyes, Iruka plucked his groceries from where he'd left them, and he silently trudged home.

Except, fate decided it wouldn't have Iruka alone tonight.

"Senseeeiiii!"

The chuunin spun with a bright smile on his face as Naruto bounded up to him from inside the crowd. The excitable blond came to an almost violent stop just before the school teacher, his trademark toothy grin in place.

"OI! I've been looking everywhere for you. You're never this hard to find!"

Iruka laughed and tousled the young ninja's hair affectionately. "Sorry, Naruto. Things are still pretty crazy. But, I'm wide open tonight. Why don't I make you dinner?"

"Hehehehehehe. As if I'm ever going to say no to dinner, Iruka-sensei! You can tell me everything while you cook. Oh...uh. I'll help too, of course." He added as an obviously untrue after thought. Iruka merely gave him one last playful head rub before pawning his groceries off on the younger man.

"Just don't break anything this time and we're even."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As usual, Naruto and Iruka had a great time together. True to his initial suggestion, Naruto had sat and watched Iruka cook and demanded that the chuunin relay all of his news pronto.

"It's going to dampen the mood of our night, Naruto." Iruka warned.

"Wha? Really? That bad?"

"You've heard about the incident with the young girl, Keekyo?"

Naruto blinked rapidly. "Umm. Nope."

Iruka dropped his wooden spoon and turned with disbelief. "Really? The entire village is talking about it."

The blond ninja's look of blank incomprehension continued. He scratched at his temple a little. He blinked again. "No clue."

The chuunin sighed and placed his hands on his hips as he usually did when he was completely unimpressed. "Naruto. If you want to be Hokage, you have to know what's going on in the village."

To his credit, Naruto looked rightly shameful.

"I know. You're right." He murmured.

Iruka smiled and turned back to his cooking. "Well, it's a good thing you're here. I'll tell you all about it."

The next hour consisted of Iruka attempting to tell Naruto all about the Keekyo investigation while being interrupted with "WHAT? THAT BASTARD!" or "BUT THAT'S HORRIBLE!" and so on. Naruto certainly made any situation more lively, and despite the seriousness of their topic, Iruka found his mood improving significantly.

Naturally, whenever it came to Kakashi, he left out the more...complicated bits. Part of him felt guilty for not telling Naruto, but he and Kakashi hadn't even really had a conversation about their relationship yet. The Hokage had been rightfully busy and Iruka really only saw him when it was at his convenience. Once things were a little more settled, he would break the news to his young friend.

Iruka served dinner and Naruto rambled about injustice and what he would do as Hokage around his food. Once the young blonde's rage had subsided, he asked Iruka how his job as Headmaster was going, and the topic shifted to much more casual conversation. Dinner was finished, dishes were cleared, and the two continued to chat. Iruka had bought sweets for Naruto and the young ninja devoured them with excitement. Eventually, stuffed full of dinner and desert, his eye lids began to droop and his head nodded. The school teacher gave Naruto his usual set of extra p.j's he kept around for moments like this, tucked him into his own bed, and turned out the lights.

With a loud yawn, Iruka finished cleaning around the house. He changed, washed, and made himself comfortable on the couch. While he waited for sleep, the chuunin briefly reflected on how happy he was for Naruto. His life was so different now than when Iruka had first accepted him into his life. It made Iruka happy for Naruto to be happy. Hopefully peace would preside, and everyone would get the happy ending they deserved.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next morning, Iruka served a sleepy-eyed Naruto breakfast. Once the young ninja regained enough consciousness not to be a harm to himself, he hugged Iruka, thanked him profusely for a great night and bounced away. The chuunin watched him go with a smile. As he turned to go back inside, he noticed something glimmering out of the corner of his eye. He bent down and inspected the small flower pot that stood outside of his apartment, and stuck in the dirt was a kunai with a note attached to it. A brief bout of anxiety returned to Iruka, but it was quickly quelled when he recognized Kakashi's hand writing.

_Stopped by to give you news about the case but saw you had company. Enjoy yourself, I'll stop by again tomorrow._

_Kakashi._

_P.s. You two are sickeningly adorable._

Iruka laughed and folded up the note. It made his chest warm to think that Kakashi would be visiting him at some point that day. Perhaps...he would make something nice for him. He didn't know if Kakashi enjoyed sweet food or not, so maybe something a little more mild.

Recipes flew through his head as he headed back to the kitchen. Maybe he would just make him a fresh loaf or something. Or maybe just dinner. But, he didn't know when he was coming. Maybe he loved sweets. But what if he hated them?

Iruka had a feeling he was over thinking things.

He grabbed his wallet, threw his vest on and headed out the door. Sake it was.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Iruka was just finished cleaning his house when he heard the knock. For some reason, his heart rate soared to completely unnecessary levels. Kakashi managed to make him feel nervous despite having already been naked and in compromising positions with him three times. Damn his charm.

The smile that greeted him when he opened the door managed to smother his nerves in a tingling warmth.

"Kakashi..."

The Hokage laughed and stepped inside when he was beckoned. "I say this often, but I'll never get tired of being greeted like that."

Iruka blushed crimson as he closed the door. "Like what?"

"It's the way you say my name. It's like you can't believe I'm here, but are really happy about it."

Uncertain if there was a way to respond to Kakashi's statement that WOULDN'T make him more embarrassed, Iruka chose to merely smile and duck his head. The Hokage laughed again and as was his custom, made himself comfortable on the couch.

"Ah...I bought some sake. Are you interested?" Iruka offered, clearing his throat slightly.

"Sounds good."

Iruka gladly made his way over to the kitchen and prepared a little set up for them. When he made his way back to Kakashi, he was quite collected and smiling warmly. "I hope you like it cold?"

"I'm not picky."

The school teacher set down their cups and poured each of them a portion. When he sat down, they held their cups aloft, Kakashi's eyes suddenly a little serious.

"I'll toast to us finally closing our case. Hopefully Keekyo rests in peace."

His exhale was shaky, but Iruka nodded and clinked their glasses together. After their sip, Iruka toyed with the edge of his ceramic cup as he spoke. "I...heard about it a bit in the market today. Life time community service?"

Kakashi looked a little disappointed but he continued all the same. "Yes. His wife is still working, and Missions Desk has been informed that she must receive enough missions to sustain them. But, he'll never work again. If he can't even take care of his own daughter, he can't be expected to take care of his fellow ninja on a mission. It was unanimously decided that he didn't deserve his rank."

The school teacher nodded absently, sipping a little more of his sake. "I think his real punishment will begin very soon. Everyone will know about it soon enough, and the people in this village aren't quiet about their opinions. He won't be able to go out in public without being shamed."

At that thought, Kakashi took on a very sombre air. "I know."

Iruka glanced up at him, suddenly concerned. "Are you alright, Kakashi? Was this hard for you?"

The Hokage shrugged and downed the rest of his drink. "It wasn't that bad. To be honest, I was furious with him. Dishing out his punishment was a little satisfying. However...I do understand what the aftermath is like. Even though he deserves it, I have a hard time wishing it on him."

Iruka nodded in agreement, but before he could answer, Kakashi shifted and his expression completely changed.

"So. How was your visit with Naruto?"

The chuunin accepted the change in topic and smiled right back. "It was nice, as usual. Actually..." he paused, staring at Kakashi as his stomach cramped with nervousness. "...you should join us next time."

Kakashi waved him off casually. "I couldn't ruin your time together."

"No, no. We have plenty of opportunities to talk, just us. I think it would be really nice. Besides...I was telling Naruto about my week, and of course, you were part of it. I left out the, uh...details." He stammered, blushing slightly. "...and felt bad about it. I don't want to hide...us. But. I wasn't sure what to tell him."

Kakashi nodded lightly, swishing the liquid in his cup around in circles as he glanced down into it. "I would have dodged that bullet, too. I'm pretty confident I know what Naruto's reaction will be like."

The Hokage made a wide, flailing gesture with his arms that Iruka wasn't expecting and the chuunin laughed heartily.

"Haha, that seems accurate! But, he needs to know eventually. He's like a little brother to me. I mean, that is...are we...?"

"Together?" Kakashi asked with a smile. "I hope so."

It felt like Iruka's heart had turned into a fire cracker, soared out of his chest and exploded over his head. His entire face lit up like said fire cracker and both ninja shared a bright smile. Slightly overcome, Iruka glanced down, trying to control his smile.

"That's...that's great."

Kakashi leaned in and Iruka wasted no time in giving him a long, drawn out kiss. As cliche as it sounded, he wanted to run around the village screaming at the top of his lungs. Iruka realized that he had been attracted to Kakashi for a long time, he just hadn't ever given them any thought because it was such a ridiculous notion. Perhaps the man in his dream had been Kakashi all along, hidden from view because he'd never bothered to explore his attraction or even think about it.

When they parted, both ninja had such goofy grins on their faces that they both laughed instantly. Kakashi's face had a wonderful, completely open, bright happiness to it that tightened Iruka's throat. He had never seen the infamous Copy-nin so delighted, and to think that he caused it...well. He couldn't even comprehend it.

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The two jumped up and whirled around, caught completely by surprise.

With his face smooshed up against the glass of Iruka's living room window, Naruto continued to scream in muted horror. He looked like he'd just seen someone have their arm amputated in front of him. Something in Iruka told him to run, but he knew he was trapped.

"Did...you know he was there?" Iruka whispered to Kakashi, his eyes locked with Naruto's.

"I was a little distracted...so no."

"Ah..."

With a long, heavy sigh, Iruka stood and motioned to Naruto to head to his front door. The blond peeled his face from the window and zipped over. Iruka barely had the door open before the young ninja had bounded inside with his arm up and an accusing finger jabbed at Kakashi.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING!?"

Kakashi blinked. "Kissing."

"UGH!"

"Oh, it's actually really nice."

"SHUT UP THAT'S GROSS!"

The frantic ninja whirled around, his finger now pointed at Iruka. Quite hilariously, he actually looked betrayed. "Wh...What are you doing? With...with KAKASHI-SENSEI?"

"Ah." Iruka started, his face a mask of glowing red. He rubbed his scar nervously and dreaded the incoming conversation. "I suppose this is good timing, as Kakashi and I just decided to ah...to tell you."

"TELL ME WHAT?"

"We're...together?"

"WHAT? WHAT? _WHAT_?"

"Calm down, Naruto." Kakashi demanded calmly from his seat on the couch. "Your giving me a headache."

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!" Naruto yelled as he spun on Kakashi. Just as fast, he was back towards Iruka. He looked positively beside himself.

"Naruto. It might seem surprising, but...well. It's not like we didn't know each other, although very casually, for years..."

The blond looked like he was slowly starting to simmer down at Iruka's attempt at an explanation. He took an exaggerated deep breath, rubbed his temples, and then continued to speak.

"So wait. Let me get this straight. You...and _Kakashi-sensei._..are...girl...I mean...boyfriends?"

"Ah. Yes." Iruka answered with a nervous smile.

Naruto paused.

"EWWW! WHY KAKASHI-SENSEI!?"

"Hey..."

"Would you be happy for Kakashi if he was with someone else?" Iruka asked calmly.

That seemed to stop Naruto's tantrum. He blinked, obviously quite thrown by the question. It took him a moment of scratching his head and placing his hands on his hips, but eventually, he had an answer that seemed to confuse him more than the question.

"Well...yes. I want him to be happy..."

"So, why is it so bad if it's me instead?"

Naruto sputtered and jabbed another finger at the obviously deeply offended Kakashi. "B-BECAUSE HE'S A PERV! And...and kind of a dick!"

Poor Kakashi was slowly deflating from the very degrading conversation and Iruka knew he had to turn the tables before his self-esteem took a legitimate hit.

"What else is he?" Iruka asked warmly.

That seemed to do the trick. An instant transformation overtook Naruto, who at once looked bashful and slightly shameful. He drew a little circle with his toe, stuffed his hands in his pockets and murmured an answer that he was obviously embarrassed to say.

"Great..."

"What was that?" Iruka asked with obvious confidence.

Naruto looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him up. "He's great."

Iruka could see Kakashi smile from the corner of his eye. Feeling much better about the situation and how Kakashi was feeling, Iruka continued.

"He _is_ great. So, if you want both of us to be happy, then it makes sense for us to be happy together, right?"

The chuunin knew the situation was effectively settled as Naruto looked like he was so ashamed of himself that he nearly melted into a puddle of embarrassed goo.

"Yes...BUT, wait!"

Something seemed to spark new, scandalized life into Naruto's body and he jabbed his finger into the air. "You're both men! I don't get it! You don't like girls?"

Silence descended on the room. Iruka and Kakashi looked like neither of them wanted to go anywhere NEAR this conversation. With a sigh of acceptance, Kakashi took up the challenge.

"Everyone is different, Naruto. You can't put restrictions on how people feel. It just...is what it is."

Though his statement was simple, it seemed to have a profound effect on Naruto. Any fight left in him quickly died down, as if he could see he was being childish. Iruka stepped closer and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, smiling down at his foster little brother with affection.

"It's alright, Naruto. I wasn't exactly planning on you finding out like this...actually, was there something you needed? Why are you here, anyway?"

The blond's head snapped up and he blinked in surprise, clearly having totally forgotten his original intentions. "OH! I wanted to ask you to dinner, but...at my place. I want to try making real ramen myself!"

Iruka laughed and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Really? You want to cook?"

"Yeah! You inspired me. I mean...it's probably gonna be awful, but I wanna try."

The blond's look became bashful again as he slowly turned to Kakashi. Clearly, he was embarrassed for unintentionally insulting the pants off of him. "Kaka-sensei...you're invited, too. Just don't complain if it tastes bad."

Kakashi smiled and was about to answer when Naruto suddenly leaped back with so much shock Iruka reached for his kunai's.

"HOLY CRAP! YOUR FACE!"

The Hokage reached for his jaw on instinct, but realizing that he still had his mask down, he laughed and dropped his hand. "Well. I guess you've got me, Naruto. Don't share my secret."

Iruka couldn't help but laugh as well at Naruto's shell-shocked expression. It made sense; he and the rest of team seven had been dying to see Kakashi's face for years. And now, without any to-do at all, there it was.

The chuunin placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders and slowly guided him towards the front door. "Kakashi and I would be more than happy to have dinner with you, Naruto. Perhaps in a couple of days? Kakashi...?"

The Hokage stood as well, joining Iruka in seeing Naruto out. "Should be fine. I don't typically have meetings after 5 o'clock anyway."

Standing just outside of Iruka's apartment, the three stood and regarded each other. Naruto was clearly trying to process all of the surprises he'd been handed in such a short amount of time. The young ninja was openly gawking at Kakashi's face, a fact that nearly had Iruka snorting with laughter.

"I can't believe it. You're good looking. I thought you'd have like...scars or something. Why the heck do you wear a mask all the time?"

"To keep people in deep suspense." Kakashi answered, his tone teasing. "I thought you figured out by now that it was nothing special."

Naruto puffed up like a bird at the jab. "WELL. I stopped thinking about it, honestly. I mean, it was whatever..."

Now Iruka couldn't help but laugh. Naruto pouted and Kakashi continued to grin.

"Oi, Iruka-sensei...this better not mean you'll be on _his_ side all the time."

Kakashi placed an injured hand over his heart and Iruka merely laughed lightly again.

"I'll be on the side of justice, Naruto. Don't worry about a thing; nothing is going to change. It's just that the two of us won't be alone anymore."

A little unexpected smile spread across Naruto's face. It turned into a wide, bright grin, his arms flying up and bending behind his head as he smiled. "That's good. I like that."

Now everyone was smiling, and there was a moment where the warmth they all felt for each other was palpable in the air.

"Heh heh heh...with a mug like that, I can kind of understand why you like him, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto teased, effectively dispelling any tension that may have remained in the situation. Kakashi actually blushed at the compliment and Iruka leaned down to hug Naruto tightly.

"I like him for the same reasons you like him, Naruto." The chuunin whispered.

When Iruka pulled back, Naruto was blushing as well, obviously embarrassed for being called out quite correctly.

"Now. Kakashi and I were just enjoying some sake, but we'll see you for dinner in a couple of days, right?"

Naruto nodded mutely, but his grin had returned and his embarrassment subsided.

"Yup! Don't do anything too weird, you gross old men!" Naruto shouted, then turned and ran down the hall, disappearing around the corner. Kakashi sighed and Iruka 'tsked' and shook his head.

"Really. We're not even old..."

"Not even."

They turned to look at each other.

"Right?"

"Right..."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Time flew and the dinner with Naruto came so fast Kakashi practically forgot about it. Thankfully, Iruka was far better with keeping appointments and effectively gathered him from his Hokage post to attend the event in a surprisingly punctual manner.

Dinner went well. Kakashi and Naruto's banter had seemingly not diminished at all from the time when they had first started getting to know each other. It was truly like the two of them were brothers, separated by a large age gap, forever stuck in a loop of teasing affection. Kakashi obviously had the upper hand as Naruto was about as predictable as it got and the Hokage was sharp as a needle. It was almost unfair, really. But the war and the battle with Pein had brought the two of them closer together than ever, and the underlying love they had for each other was evident despite their never ending banter.

Naruto's ramen tasted like mushy, burnt mushrooms, but somehow they all manged to leave his house somewhat satisfied. Iruka promised to return the next day and show him how to prepare something far more edible, and the blond did not protest even a peep.

Kakashi and Iruka's relationship continued to slowly grow, mostly restricted by Kakashi's constant presence at the Hokage tower. Since he was new in his position, there were still many details that needed to be ironed out, causing the Hokage to work later hours than he normally would have. Iruka didn't really mind, however. He was used to being on his own, and was kept busy with his class, the missions desk and his constant flow of marking.

Luckily for the two new lovers the village seemed to simmer down quite a bit after the Keekyo incident. According to Kakashi, the ANBU therapists were actually quite busy for a couple of weeks, but after the initial rush people seemed to regain their sense of reality and stopped going to sessions. Within three weeks, the therapists were back to their ANBU posts and normalcy seemed to return to the village.

As for the students, most of them continued to show improvement. The only exceptions were Keekyo's friends, a couple of girls, who needed more help than the others. Iruka gave them a little extra affection and support, and they seemed to slowly coast through their grief without too much permanent scarring.

Iruka ran into Keekyo's mother in the market once, but she was gone as soon as he saw her. Truly, the chuunin felt bad for her. He didn't know whether or not she was actually a bad person, or just trapped in a difficult situation that she didn't have the strength of character to handle. Her life was going to be difficult from now on, with the death of her daughter and the villages disdain to handle. Not only that, but her husband was certain to be bitter and angry with his sentencing. He couldn't be easy to deal with.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Iruka packed up the dinner he made for Kakashi as tightly as possible. They'd made it kind of a 'thing' to have little picnics in the Hokage's office when things got too hectic for the Hokage to escape to Iruka's. Kakashi seemed to thoroughly enjoy Iruka's cooking, which pleased the chuunin, so he cooked for the other man as much as possible.

The downside? Every damn ANBU guard knew they were seeing each other. It didn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together, after all. None of them seemed particularly judgemental, though, so it wasn't really a big deal. Just slightly embarrassing.

Said guards let Iruka in and he smiled at his partner.

"Good evening, Kakashi. I made your favourite."

"Battered eggplant?" The Hokage asked with adorable excitement. Iruka walked up to him and the two kissed gently in greeting.

"You guessed it! But, I ran out of pepper, so there's chili flakes instead. I hope that's alright."

"I like a little bit of spice."

Iruka smiled wider and placed the basket on the Hokage desk. "How's your day been?"

Kakashi sighed in his usual dramatic way and rubbed the back of his neck. "Booooring."

There was a considerable stack of scrolls littering his desk. Iruka gifted him with a consoling smile and gently rubbed his back. "At least it's not book balancing."

Kakashi looked like he was actually going to vomit. "How dare you mention book balancing in my presence."

Laughter accompanied his offence. The two shared a smile before Iruka's face dropped and he scratched his nose.

"Well, I'll be going now."

"What?" Kakashi answered, his whole face falling. "You're not staying? You're abandoning me to the paper work?"

"Kakashi, I have missions desk tonight. I told you already." Iruka chided with a small sigh. He wasn't actually angry, because he hadn't expected Kakashi to remember. He was terrible with that.

The Hokage looked bashful. "Oh...sorry. Yes, you did."

For someone so brilliant and talented, Kakashi had terrible short term memory when he wasn't 100% focused. Toss a scroll full of ninja secrets past his face and he'll remember 60% of its contents with one glance. Tell him you're working tomorrow night? Blank.

"You can make it up to me by eating all of my cooking." Iruka responded with a smile.

Kakashi looked like he'd won the lottery. He beamed at his lover, bending down, closing the distance between them. "This is why you're my favourite." he breathed before kissing Iruka.

Their kiss was long and deep, hands travelling over clothes, until Kakashi managed to pull up Iruka's shirt and drag his nails up and down his abdomen. The chuunin inhaled sharply against Kakashi's lips.

"You're making this hard." He laughed.

Kakashi looked down. He grinned. "I can see that."

Iruka whacked him playfully in the shoulder. "Izumo is never going to let me hear the end of it if I show up to my shift aroused."

"Well. We can take care of it, if you want..." Kakashi purred, his eyes darting back to his desk. Iruka sighed and shook his head in amused disbelief.

"What is it with you and the desk..."

"What's with _you _and the desk? You know it isn't alive, right?"

"Yes, Kakashi. I am well aware. It just feels wrong. Possibly very uncomfortable..."

"Oh, and the chair was better?"

Iruka turned scarlet red. Kakashi had been waiting for a meeting in the official Hokage greeting chair that ended up being cancelled. Iruka happened to be there. They hadn't seen each other in a few days.

"I...still can't believe we did that."

Kakashi grinned like a mad man. "It was fun."

"You're a very difficult man to resist, Kakashi." Iruka admitted, his cheeks still red. The Hokage leaned down and kissed him again.

"That's what I like to hear." Kakashi whispered, his voice husky.

Iruka laughed and hit him lightly again. "You're incorrigible. And, you're making me late. I'm sorry Kakashi, I do need to go."

"Alright." Kakashi sighed, pulling his mask back up to officially end their time together. Iruka smiled and gave him a kiss on his clothed cheek.

"Do you know when you're free next?"

"Maaa...I'll send you a message. There's this dumb meeting and then this other boring thing..."

"Kakashi." Iruka chided with a laugh.

The Hokage winked at him. Iruka smiled, bright and warm, before turning to leave. He yelped and jumped when Kakashi slapped him, fairly hard, on the ass. He whirled around, the Hokage batting his eyelashes innocently at him. Iruka waved his finger 'no', smiled again, and left.

Iruka had a stupid grin on his face throughout his entire shift.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As time progressed and the village calmed after the war, Kakashi had more and more time on his hands. The two began to spend a considerable amount of time together, to the point where more and more people slowly caught on to their relationship. The two had been together so often that it wasn't even a shock. Most people just took it in stride, other than being mind blown that Kakashi, the man who could have any woman he wanted, preferred another man instead. Though Iruka was a village favourite, so most people just accepted it.

Not that anyone could really DO anything about it. Kakashi was the Hokage; they _had _to respect him. If anyone disagreed with him to the point where they felt the need to vent their anger on him, they risked slandering their leader. Clearly, that was not acceptable.

Iruka, however, was a bit of a different matter. The longer their relationship went on, and the more people caught on, he started to receive some strange looks. They weren't necessarily hostile, but they reminded him of how Naruto had reacted. Kind of...a look of severe confusion. Like "you're intimate with men? Oh...well...okay..". Seeing as it was the Hokage, though, there was almost a tint of respect to their gawking. Like they were confused, but impressed at the same time. It was manageable.

When they'd been together almost three years, one of the most precious events of Iruka's life happened. Naruto, his pride and joy, finally got his act together and married. On the big day, Iruka and Kakashi stood by Naruto's side as he was committed to his future wife. The chuunin had to fight to control his tears the entire ceremony. It was a miracle he didn't look like he was about to cry in every picture. Kakashi needled him endlessly, but it was clear from the look of warm pride on his face that the Hokage felt the same way.

To his credit, Iruka at least managed to make Naruto as teary-eyed as he was. As the chuunin helped Naruto dress, he told him how much he loved him and how proud he was. Naruto had managed to make every one of his dreams come true through sheer willpower and the affects of his loving nature. Naruto told Iruka that the only reason any of it had happened was because of him. Iruka had pushed Naruto onto a spiral that made him a better person and, funny enough, assisted in saving the world. The two hugged, cried on each other's shoulders, and barely pulled themselves together in time for Naruto to actually get married.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei." Naruto threw over his shoulder just before they met up with the assembly. "I hope me and Hinata are as happy as you and Kakashi-sensei. Maybe you can give me some tips."

"Maybe it's Hinata I should be giving advice to." Iruka laughed as he dabbed at his eyes. "You and Kakashi have far more in common than you think."

After the wedding, as Iruka and Kakashi lay in bed, the chuunin couldn't help but feel a little tinge of sadness. He and Kakashi would probably never formally marry. It hadn't ever happened before, a wedding between two men, at least not in their village. Not that it mattered, but it was such a beautiful event. And wouldn't it be nice, to call Kakashi 'husband'?

"What's the matter?" Iruka heard Kakashi mumble.

"Nothing. Can't stop thinking about the wedding." Iruka slightly fibbed.

"Mm. It was nice." The Hokage yawned. Within moments, he was sound asleep. Iruka realized there was no point in dwelling on it, since it likely wasn't going to happen. Besides, they didn't need a ceremony or rings to know they were married. Every single one of the people in their lives saw them as partners. They knew each other as their partner. That's all that mattered.

Another year passed. Hinata and Naruto had their first child, which Iruka was practically beside himself about. He was, clearly, Uncle Iruka and Kakashi was Uncle Kakashi (sama). To the chuunin's delight, more of his students began to wed. It felt like he and Kakashi were going to a wedding every other month. Things in the village, in the world, were as peaceful as they'd ever been. Everyone was happy, including Iruka. Sometimes he couldn't get over how wonderful his life was. His job as Headmaster was going well and had been going well for years. Kakashi had molded into his role as the Hokage so well that the city's economy was actually booming. Iruka didn't think his life would ever be so complete, and he thanked the stars every night for allowing him and Kakashi to come together.

However, when Kakashi and Iruka had been together almost five years, Iruka had a life altering confrontation with a random older woman. She stopped him in the market to very embarrassingly blunder:

"Aren't you two concerned about ending the Hatake line? Kakashi's talented, he should have children to carry on his skills."

Iruka blinked in mortified confusion as he clutched the apple he had been about to purchase.

"Uhh...well. There isn't much we can do about that..."

She persisted. "But his is a very esteemed line. Even his father was talented."

Something in Iruka snapped. Long ago, Kakashi had divulged all of his deep, buried hurt from everything that had to do with his father. It was horrible what happened to Kakashi's family, especially his father. Iruka was sensitive to anything that had to do with Kakashi and pain.

His eyes flashed and he raised his chin just so. "Well. Perhaps if the village hadn't ridiculed Sakumo into ending his life so tragically early, Kakashi could have had siblings to carry on their line instead."

Anyone within earshot stopped what they were doing instantly. An awkward silence prevailed. The woman looked like she wanted to argue, but who could really argue with that? Instead, she sniffed and merely walked away. Iruka took a deep, cleansing breath and turned to the vendor he had been dealing with.

"I'll just take three of these."

The woman nodded mutely and hurried to deal with his purchase.

Despite being quite secure in their relationship, what the old woman said had affected Iruka. He went home, put his groceries away, and then sunk down onto his couch and stayed there in morbid silence until Kakashi came to visit him.

The poor Hokage was greeted with a distraught partner who was terrified he was ruining the other man's life.

"Are you sure, though? We can have children of course, but they won't be ours. I couldn't live with myself if I robbed you of that and you really wanted it." Iruka rambled, his voice thick.

Kakashi smiled and held Iruka, running his fingers through his hair. "I've never troubled myself with that, Iruka. I was prepared to live alone. Children haven't really ever been on my mind."

After much consoling, Iruka finally calmed down. But, Kakashi was still troubled. Something told him Iruka would always be worried about this, no matter what he did. He cursed the stupid old hag who put the seed of doubt in his lovers mind, but at the same time, he wondered if this wouldn't have come up on its own at some point. He needed to see if there was a solution.

The next day, Kakashi went to visit Tsunande. She didn't hang around the Hokage tower much anymore, but the two visited each other often. The copy-nin brought up his concerns to Tsunande, who rubbed her chin and mulled it over.

"Well. If it's just a concern of spreading _your_ genes, that's easy."

Kakashi blinked. "It is?"

"Sure. Just knock up some chick."

The Hokage sighed and rubbed his temples. "Really?"

Tsunande shook her head. "Idiot. You don't have to have sex with her."

Kakashi's eyes bulged out of his head as Tsunande described the process of 'artificial insemination' and how it wasn't popular at all in the village, but was possible. "The only problem is finding a woman who is willing to pop out a baby for someone else. You'd have to pay her, of course."

"Hmmm." Kakashi pondered. "A single woman, preferably with good genes. Someone who isn't going to want to keep the baby..."

Tsunande nodded her head. "Yes, exa- Oh my God. What is that look for?"

Kakashi grinned. Tsunande's jaw dropped. He continued to grin. "You do have wonderful genes, Tsunande."

"OH MY GOD, GET OUT."

"Come on. You'd be helping out a dear friend."

"LEAVE NOW. _WOW_. DO YOU NOT REMEMBER HOW OLD I AM?"

Kakashi poked the diamond on her forehead. "I feel like that isn't going to be an issue."

"I HATE YOU."

"Please?"

"GO AWAY."

"For Iruka."

"FUCK OFF."

"For me?"

"DIE."

"For the future of the village...?"

Tsunande got off her couch, glaring bloody murder at Kakashi. "You are the ODDEST person..."

He held up his hands, but his grin remained. "It was just a suggestion. I'm sure we can find someone else. Although...wouldn't it be cute, to be able to visit a baby that was yours? You'd be the godmother, of course. You'd be Aunt Tsunande."

The poor woman actually looked distraught. There was something in her eyes that told Kakashi she loved the idea of having a child, even if she wouldn't be it's mother. And she did so love Kakashi, and Iruka was a favourite of hers. She made a loud disgruntled noise.

"Words can't even describe how much I hate you."

"So you'll do it?"

"Fuck off."

"Great. I'll come by in a few days with some semen. You know, to give you time to think it over."

Kakashi JUST managed to dodge the flower vase she hurled at him with the power of a thousand shinobi fists. He couldn't wait to get home and tell Iruka.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"...She...you...what..."

"The process is a little strange, but if Tsunande is sure it'll work, then it will."

Iruka's jaw hadn't closed since Kakashi broke the news to him. He looked shocked, excited, concerned, hesitant, happy. "She's really willing...she'll actually give the baby to us?"

"I don't doubt that if she decides to, then she will. We'll just have to be good family members and bring the baby to her for visits. It'll be nice, having an Aunt."

Tears slowly ran down Iruka's cheeks. His face looked wondrous, bright and happy. "Really._ Really_?"

Kakashi smiled. "Yes, Iruka. If you want to, then really."

"C-can we adopt, too? I've always wanted to adopt. We can have one that's ours -Oh. Well, yours. And then one who is an orphan?" Iruka whispered through his tears. Kakashi laughed and bent down to place a kiss on his love's forehead.

"Yes. We can have as many as you want."

Iruka broke down into happy, amazed tears. He dropped into Kakashi's arms and the two hugged tightly, laughing and crying. The Hokage hadn't been expecting any of it, but he found himself filled with excitement. He never thought he would get to have children. He never thought he would have a partner. When Kakashi was younger, he saw himself dying alone. Now he was going to have a family.

Sniffling, Kakashi rubbed at his eyes quickly. Iruka would never let him forget it if he saw him cry.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hello, favourite person."

"Fuck you." Tsunande bit back at her Hokage visitor. She turned and walked into her apartment, hugging herself. Kakashi stopped when she saw how uncertain she looked.

"Tsunande. I know I was an ass, but it's because we have the same sense of humour. You know this is an option, right? You can say no, an actual no, and then it's done."

"Of course I know that, brat. I'm not a push over."

She sighed, flipping her hair over her shoulder, straightening her back. "I've thought about it. A lot. I'm more than willing to do it. You two are obnoxiously adorable, and I couldn't think of anyone who would be a better parent than Iruka. He loves children, and he deserves one. I guess you get one, too, by default."

Kakashi flipped her off and Tsunande stuck out her tongue. They smiled at each other. Kakashi looked a little misty eyed and Tsunande looked away with a blush.

"You just want to teach a child to gamble." Kakashi chuckled.

"Perhaps." She responded with a grin. "Alright. Enough talk. Go in my bathroom and do your pervy business. The...appliance is in there. Make sure your Kakashi Juice goes right into the container. And don't make any weird noises."

Kakashi made a face and walked past her. "Weird noises..."

The door closed. There were definitely no noises, but he was taking a lot longer than Tsunande expected. Kakashi was out and ready in around ten minutes, not looking at all like he'd enjoyed the experience.

"It was incredibly weird trying to get off knowing you were waiting and_ listening _for me." He muttered. Kakashi handed Tsunande what she needed and she took a long, deep breath as she gazed at it.

"Well. It wasn't what I was expecting in life, but I guess I'll take it." She sighed.

Kakashi frowned and rubbed her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Of course." She answered, snappy but with no bite to it. "It's just...it looks like cooking equipment. Would have been much nicer if it was a real penis."

"...Well..."

"Shut up." She snapped, shoving him. "Now move before these puppies die off."

He bowed and she stalked past him to her bedroom. When her door closed, Kakashi suddenly got extremely nervous. He couldn't believe he was doing this. Technically, he was knocking up one of the infamous Sannin in her senior years so he and his gay lover could have a kid. It was just absurd.

But. That child, that definitely beautiful child, was going to have KILLER skills when it got older. Senju and Hatake genes? He wouldn't mind that combo if he was honest with himself. Although, the goal was that his child would never have to raise a kunai in it's life. And hopefully, if peace prevailed, it would have two loving parents and at least one other sibling. Kakashi would do everything in his power to give his child a better life than he'd had.

A giant, dopey grin took over his face.

His child.

His and Iruka's.

Life was good.

"I _HATE_ YOU, KAKASHI! I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOUR HAND WHEN THIS THING POPS OUT OF ME!"

Kakashi kept smiling. It was nice to have good friends to count on, too.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

THE END!

Well, I really hope you guys liked it. The child part just kind of...came to me as I was writing. I was not expecting this chapter to be this long, but there was so much to write about! Please R and R and let me know what you thought. Hopefully, Iruka and Kakashi are happy in Canon as well. If not, then hey, that's what fanfiction is for :D

BYE!


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